Pokémon: Reason
by DutchActual
Summary: After 4 years disappearing from the Pokemon world, Ash Ketchum participates in the biggest stage of Pokemon competition, The Grand Conference, in his quest for revenge. Little did he know that his journey will lead to something else. AshxCynthia
1. This is Then

**Hurray for first fanfic!**

**I've decided to make one about.. Well, why don't you just read to find out!**

* * *

**Nunc Quindem**

**6:15 AM  
Indigo Plateau Outskirts  
0.00%**

It was a calm and relaxing morning in a cave somewhere near Kanto's infamous Victory Road, and the sun had just started to rise. Being a little cold that day, it forced a young man to wake up from the unusually cooler temperature.

"Whew! Why is it so cold today?" He stated while holding both his shoulders showing his slight displeasure towards the weather. "_Oh well". _He thought to himself. "It's time to get up_." _Said the boy with the messy, long, raven-like hair, while starting his morning stretches after putting on a glove on his right hand, stretching to his elbow. Then, he noticed that something was missing.

"_Hmm. Either he's gone training on his own, or he's sleepwalking again." _He chuckles at the thought of his partner Pokémon tripping while sleepwalking, then proceeded to take his overcoat from a nearby table. Wearing dark blue pants and a black turtleneck shirt, he got out of the cave.

He made the cave his home during his stay in the area, where he specially trains his Pokémon to keep him busy for his future plans.

He was nearing a river, not too far from his 'house'. In an attire that is seemingly all dark in color, he started to wash his face, when a yellow creature with a lighting shaped tail jumped and tried to kick his head from behind, where the boy quickly ducked, allowing his partner to sweatdrop and fall into the river.

"Of all the things you could've done, you do _that, _Pikachu." Stated the boy to his partner, who was still laying face down in the river. The yellow mouse changed to a sitting position and rubbed the back of his head while grinning.

"Pika pi Pikachu!" claimed the little mouse. "What was that?" replied the boy, while leaning sideways to his Pikachu, closing a little distance. "_Speak here." _He said telepathically while wearing his matching dark blue overcoat. "_It's not fair, how come you're always on your guard, even though you just woke up!" _said the little Pokémon playfully. "_Well, there are things that you just get used to after a while_." He said to his pal of more than 9 years.

"_Yo, Mr. Ash Ketchum."_

"_Hmm?" _Ash's auburn eyes turned to his Pikachu after he called him.

"_Looks like everyone's eager for some training!" _he excitedly claimed while pointing at a general direction.

Ash squinted his eyes to see what looked like a parade stomping down the trees at a distance, and then realizing that his Pokémon are all up and ready for some action. In a matter of seconds, the parade stopped right in front of Ash.

"Now _that_ is what I call enthusiasm." Ash claimed to his stampede of Pokémon while raising a thumb up. "Alright guys, let's get to work!" said the boy, starting his daily routine, his special trainings.

"_Some things just never change." _Pikachu said while giving a know-it-all shrug.

In a distance, a blue and black Pokémon with spikes coming out from the back of its hands just smiled looking at his Trainer's trait that has not changed during their years together. He later joined the group.

* * *

**11:30 AM  
Indigo Plateau Outskirts  
0.00%**

A couple of hours later, the sun were completely up and it was scorching hot.

"Alright, we'll cut it short for today. Good work guys!" said the trainer to his large crowd of Pokémon. Then he walked to one of his Pokémon, a large, orange lizard with wings spread on his back. There is a lighting flame on his tail, which grew larger as he observed his trainer coming close to him.

"Graaaar." The lizard growled. "Good work, Charizard. I see your power and speed is unmatched even by the legendaries." Ash said as he petted his Charizard on the head after his special training. "Care to do me a favour?" "Graaah!" the orange creature growled happily. "Scout ahead for me, will you? Check if the road to path to Pallet is clear." The once excited Charizard sweatdropped and shook its head. "Raah." "Staraptor and Pidgeot are both exhausted from their training, and they don't seem like they're going to wake up soon." "_Fine. Only if you keep me in the party when you battle in the Grand Conference at all times." _Ash smiled at his Pokémon's response. "_Of course."_

"Darn it, I should've left my coat back in the cave. Why was this morning _that_ cold?" The now taller trainer with his hair tied up to a ponytail complained while eating berries for lunch. "Once I finished my business in Pallet Town, I should go to Viridian City to get some nice lunch the next day."

"_Master, you're going start heading to that town today?" _The dark and blue Pokémon landed right next to Ash in a kneeling position. _"Yeah. Tomorrow is when _that _happened. I think you asked this same question last year too_." Ash said, laughing a little. "_Ah- Forgive my rudeness, Master. It was completely foolish of me to make the same mistake twice." "No worries Lucario. Pokémon are also not perfect." _The Lucario smiled at this remark, and bowed its head.

"Now, let's go call the other guys and make my party for the day." "_Master, Charizard isn't back yet with the news." _Ash grinned at his Lucario. "Who said?"

"Graaaah!" Above was Charizard coming into the scene, flying and shooting multiple flamethrowers to signal the trainer.

"_You need to pay attention more, Lucario. Come with me." _Ash laughed as he walked to where his stampede of Pokémon was.

"_Certainly, Master." _The Lucario answered, following Ash.

After making his party, he started to make his way to Pallet town. Along the way, he picked up a couple of flowers here and there, finally making what seems like a bouquet after some time. Travelling with his Pikachu on his shoulder, he seems happy to be able to still train with his Pokémon, even after all he had been through. Although it is quite a distance from where he resides and his hometown, he was taking his time, even though he could have covered that distance very quickly with his skills that he had honed over the years. He wanted to get to the town at night time. He _had _to.

* * *

**10:40 PM  
Pallet Town  
0.00%**

When he finally got to the town, it was dark, just like he expected. He saw the icon of Pallet, the Oak's Laboratory. He walked over to see the garden behind the Lab empty, not like it used to be. "_Of course, they all came with me." _He thought to himself while chuckling. Setting that aside, he stopped in front of the main window of the Lab and said to his Pikachu. "_Time?" "... 10.. 4.. 7. 10:47. What, he didn't implement a time system in that arm?" _Pikachu complained to his partner. "_That would just be stupid." "I think it would be practical." _Pikachu sighed.

After a long walk down the road leading to the Ketchum residence, Ash finally got to his destination, still with what looked like a flower bouquet in his left hand.

He skipped the fences next to the house and headed to the hill at the back of the property. Then he saw a tree, jumped on a sturdy looking branch to sit on it, and decided to wait it out for an hour or so.

"_Don't you think we'll be easily compromised here? It's awfully close to the house." _Pikachu asked with a concerned look on his face.

"_No worries, I can just leap away from here when we _are _seen, although I doubt that. I can sense people's presence, remember?" _Ash remarked with a grin on his face.

"_Right. I guess I have nothing to worry about." _Smiling at his confident trainer. "_How are you getting used to that arm of yours?" _asked the little yellow creature.

Ash thought about what his Pikachu said, and took off the glove on his right hand that stretches to his elbow, revealing a metallic arm, from his fingers to a little bit below the elbow line. He moved his fingers repeatedly, showing that he has full controls over his artificial arm. "_Not too bad, at least I won't have to worry about thorns from the flowers I'm carrying. Haha. Also, it _**has** _been _**four** _years." _"_Right, glad to see you're not hung up on that arm."_

"Hmm." Ash nodded, and then looked at his arm. An unpleasant experience flashed in his mind.

* * *

_Ash was on a snowy mountain top in the Sinnoh Region, kneeling. He had a view on the entrance of the Spear Pillar and a person with blue hair, looking more aged than the rest of enemy's team, with a 'G' imprint on his silver vest. "Crobat! Air slash!" the man shouted, pointing at one of Ash's companions, a trainer who was the champion of Sinnoh at the time, and probably still is. Upon realizing the man's intentions, Ash quickly reached out with his hand-_

* * *

He shook his head in order to let the past go, but the nightmare could not be forgotten that easily. "_Tsch. I was powerless against him." _Ash whispered under his breath to himself. "But now, it's different." Commented Ash, who had a violent look.

"_Ash, it's now 12 o'clock." _Pikachu said telepathically.

"Oh.. Right." He then dropped from the branch, approaching a landmark that is made of stones while putting his gloves in his coat pocket.

"How do you know it is 12?" Ash asked with a confused look. "_I counted." _Pikachu said. "Really?"

"_No! I looked at your watch!" _said the mouse while pointing to his left wrist. "Oh yeah, I was wearing a watch.." Said the trainer followed by a facepalm from his Pikachu.

The landmark had a rectangular shape for the top part, much like the ones seen in the Pokémon tower in Lavender town. Ash placed the bouquet in front of the landmark which looked like a tombstone, with inscriptions written. This isn't his first time coming here, and he knew what was written there. Despite that, he still looked at the first line.

"_In memories of Ash Ketchum."_

"In memories, eh.. It certainly is true, for the most part." He chuckled, then looked down, his heart filled with anger and regret.

"I'm done paying my respects. Let's go, Pikachu." He said to his partner. "_Paying your respects to an assumed-to-be-dead you." _Pikachu jokingly said. Ash ignored his partner at his statement. "_Where are we going next?" _the creature asked.

"_The Grand Conference." _He answered. "_I heard that 'team' needs a strong trainer to help them in the process of opening the dimensional rift again, and they're going to find that in the winner of the conference." _Explained the young trainer. "_I'm going to find and stop him again, and pay that guy back what I owe."_

"_Revenge, eh." _Pikachu stated, and continued, "_For that arm?"_

"_For _**Everything**_." _Ash smirked, while punching his metal fist to his left palm, creating a gentle shockwave that confirmed his determination.

* * *

**Well, that's the first chapter! Hope it's not too bad, since I'm just a beginner =|**

**This _will_ be an AshxCynthia fanfic, I just wanted to write only about Ash on this chapter. More on this next chapter =)**

**If any of you are wondering how Ash is dressed in this one, please google "Sieghart" from Rave Master.**

**As you may have noticed, I decided to not associate Ash with auras here, since I want to focus on his skills with his arm. His telepathy is his only psychic skill, which is going to be elaborated later (I plan to do so, at least)**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed my first fanfic. Please review!**


	2. The People

**Ahoy, I'm back with chapter 2. **

**Finished this a couple of days before the upload, actually. Kept checking it, I feel like something's wrong. But nevertheless, here it is.**

**Introduced some of the companions, without any major details.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Sibimet**

**8:00 AM  
Pallet Town  
Oak's Laboratory**

"Hmm. They still show no sign of returning, huh..." The Pokémon Professor stood by the window of his lab, starting at the garden.

"What's wrong Professor Oak?" his assistant asked behind him, while cleaning some of Professor Oak's research equipments.

"It's nothing really important." The professor gave a white lie to his assistant. "Now, I wonder what's the progress on the PokéBalls research down at Elm's lab. I hope they're doing okay."

"Do you want me to check and call?"

"No need, Tracey, just do it tomorrow." Prof. Oak replied. "Okay!" Tracey said while getting back to cleaning.

"Now that I think about it, isn't today an anniversary of something?" Tracey stopped cleaning to think. "Oh, right! We were supposed to go to Mrs. Ketchum's house today!" Prof. Oak frowned, "For what, Tracey?" "_That, _Professor. _That!"_

Still confused at what Tracey is trying to say, Prof. Oak leaned at the window to see the garden once more. Then, he remembered what it was. "Oh my Goodness! How could I forget?" Said the elder while starting to run down the hill to the Ketchum residence. "Let's hurry!"

It was a bright and sunny day in the small town; however, one does not get to see many of the people carrying out their daily activities this day, as there was an event at one house, and most of the townspeople were present there. Two figures from the Oak Laboratory could be seen running at full speed towards this house, with the older one stopping every five seconds. Three minutes later, they arrived at the house to be greeted by a sweeping Mr. Mime.

"Mime mime!" shouted the Pantomime Pokémon, waving its hands.

"Has it started yet?" The younger one asked the Pokémon sweeping the floor. The Pokémon shook its head.

"Good. See you later, Mr. Mime!"

* * *

**8:10 AM  
Pallet Town  
Ketchum Residence**

"Oh, Hi Professor Oak, Hi Tracey!" The girl with the orange hair stated when she saw the two figures walk in the door. "You guys are a bit late, it's starting soon." She was in the same attire when the two saw her last; blue jeans and yellow top with long sleeves. Her hair had grown another inch, now reaching past her shoulders. "Hey Misty. Sorry, we ran here as fast as we could, if it weren't for Professor Oak to stop every five seconds, we would've got here a long time ago." "Hey, you should show some respect to our elders!" said the professor while gasping for breath.

Tracey finally calmed down, and started to walk around the house to see who came to the annual event that started four years ago. He saw a couple of familiar faces around the house, including a tall man with small eyes, going around the house flirting with every pretty girl in the vicinity. Not long, his Toxicroak went into action and did a 'Thousand Years of Pain' with one arm to its Trainer. In an interval of milliseconds, Misty also went into the scene and pulled him by his ears through the back door. With them out of sight, he swore he heard someone cursed Kakashi-sensei for inventing the '_Sennen Goroshi'_.

Tracey saw many pictures that were placed and hung on many places, and they all have one thing in common. In every picture there is a boy with his varying trademark hats and his raven-like hair, with his Pikachu with him. Tracey smiled at the sight and quickly went outside the property from the back door, following Misty and the very flirtatious man.

When he stepped outside, he saw that many of the trainer's travelling companions have gathered. Every year they would pay their respects to the deceased trainer, whose grave was located on top of the small hill behind the property, next to a tall tree.

May Maple, a top coordinator from the Hoenn region, was seen chatting to her friends, which was identified to be Dawn Berlitz, who is another top coordinator, however originating from the Sinnoh region. They were quickly joined by Max Maple, May's brother, who is a top contender for the Grand Conference that will be taking place in less than two weeks, as well as the two female coordinators. Tracey smiled as he saw many of trainer's friends came, and at the sight of the top trainers and coordinators, including the Sinnoh Champion.

Tracey kept on walking around until he heard the program was about to start, and then joined the group as they slowly ascend the hill.

* * *

**9:00 AM  
Pallet Town  
Ash Ketchum's Grave**

The group finally reached the location of the tombstone, next to the divine looking tree that appeared only four years ago, but grew at a tremendous speed.

Mrs. Delia Ketchum, wearing a formal set of clothes, noticed a returning item this year also.

"Look, this person dropped flowers also this year! Whoever this person might be, he must've been a pretty close friend of Ash's." Stated Ash's mother at the sight of the flowers placed in front of his tombstone, not knowing that it was from her own son.

One by one, people from the group stepped forward to pay their respects. People from the town thanked him for being a proud image of Pallet Town, representing his hometown with such pride and joy. Over time, the only people left were his travelling companions, with a few of the trainers he made friends with along the way. Ash's mother was tending to the guests in the house.

The victim of the '_Sennen Goroshi' _stepped forward first, completely recovered from the damage done earlier, proving that 'a thousand years' is nothing compared to him. He brought a bouquet of flowers and placed it in front of the grave. "I pretty much said what I have and wanted to say the first 2 years, buddy. And I still mean it." A weak smile formed on his mouth, with now his eyes slanting downwards and forming buds of tears in the corner of his eyes. He stood up quickly, saluted the grave, and got ready for a soldier like vow.

"I, Brock, swear that someday I will find a girlfriend, like you wished!"

Everyone sweatdropped at his statement, and giggled a little at his usual conduct. "Yeah, I don't think he cared for that at all, Brock!" Max shouted. The group laughed it out while Brock sulked next to the tree while crying anime tears.

Brock knelt afterwards, and touched the stone. "Thanks for everything, buddy."

The group smiled at Brock, who ran to the house crying anime tears, this time, buckets. While running, Misty tripped him, making Brock's face crash to the ground with full force. Misty dragged Brock to the sweatdropping group, making him stay while he was still crying.

They took turns saying what they had in mind, going back to either the house or staying with the group to wait for the others to finish.

Next, it was Sinnoh's Champion's turn, who had more to say than the others thought she would.

* * *

**9:45:50 AM  
Viridian City**

"At-chooo!" The young trainer sneezed.

"Wonder if somebody's talking about me?" he thoughtlessly asked himself out loud.

"_Probably a lot of people are talking about you right now." _Pikachu thought to himself.

"Well, let's go get some good food." He calmly said to his partner, heading to a fancy restaurant, when a mysterious cloaked figure appeared in front of him in a flash and teleported him back to his hometown.

* * *

**9:45:51 AM  
Pallet Town  
Professor Oak's Laboratory  
Roof**

"Great." He sighed. "We're back here again." He stared at the cloaked figure, two legs, two hands with three fingers each, and a tail. It stared at him with its clear purple eyes.

"So? Mind telling me why we're back in Pallet Town, Mewtwo?" he asked to the cloaked figure that opened its hood.

Mewtwo smirked at the trainer, and came up with a reply, "_My Apologies. I must have slipped away from my course during my teleportation session." _"Yeah, sure, sure." The trainer said while standing up to stretch his body. Mewtwo then disappeared out of sight.

"Smooth, Genetic one." Ash said sarcastically. "So much for my grand lunch plan." He jumped down from the roof, to land on a seemingly floating manner for a mere second. He then noticed a group in a distance, but did not pay attention to it.

Suddenly, Pikachu glowed blue and was floating away from Ash, much to their surprise. His little mouse was flying towards the group in the distance, and Ash figured out who was the culprit behind this. Pikachu landed safely, close to the group.

"_No harm, no foul, Chosen one." _Said the legendary Pokémon while teleporting away.

"Tsch, that bastard." Cursed Ash while he was running towards the group, who was still shocked by the view of a Pikachu falling from the sky and landing with a summersault.

* * *

**10:00 AM  
Unknown Place**

"Is it ready?" the man with the blue hair inquired his staff.

"Yes, sir. We have re-captured the three legendaries of Lake Acuity, Verity, and Valor. They are currently being kept in BF6." The person ranked as a grunt answered with a salute, showing fear on his face at the sight of the organization's leader.

"And Celeby?"

"Being transported here as we speak, sir."

"Excellent. There will be no brat to stop me this time. I've been waiting for this moment..." The man grinned, leaning back on his chair, revealing a 'G' imprint on his silver vest. "Start the device."

**0.12%**

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**10:03 AM  
Pallet Town  
New Landmark Tree (Next to Ash's Grave)**

Nearing the group, ash let out his hair from his ponytail, letting his hair cover his good, handsome features of his face. His plans would require him not to reveal his identity, even to his closest friends and former companions.

Still with his dark attire, Ash approached the group, and talked with an unrecognizable voice that has changed over the years. "Sorry about that, my Pikachu tends to let its guard down." The group, who sensed a certain sense of familiarity from the person, frowned at that statement, wondering how letting one's guard down would result in falling from the sky. While saying this, Ash had kept his distance from everyone, being careful to not show his face.

"Come here, Pikachu." Said Ash calling his Pikachu, where the mouse immediately responded and jumped to his right shoulder. "Let's go, pal. Sorry to bother everyone. Probably I'll see some of you during the Grand Conference." He gave a slight nod to the group, and walked away after a slight glance at Cynthia. He heard a strange noise on the grass when Pikachu jumped on him, but decided not to care and kept walking.

"Well.. That was one unique entry." Max remarked.

"I think that would do well in a contest." Dawn commented. Everyone looked at Dawn with a funny expression. "What? I seriously think it could!"

"Are you done, Cynthia?" A young blonde man with striped shirt asked the champion if she was done paying her respects. "_This boy is always in a rush, even at times like these." _Thought the trainer with long and blonde hair with two unusual hair clips on her hair. "Yes, I'm done. Let's get going." "_I'll return at night." _She thought to herself, while looking back at the tombstone.

"_Hmm?" _ She found a glove near the tree, dark blue in color. "_This must be that guy's. I think he mentioned something about the Grand Conference. I guess I'll give it back to him when I meet him there." _Placing the glove in her coat pocket, she went back to the Ketchum house.

* * *

**9:00 PM  
Indigo Plateau Outskirts  
0.23% **

West of the Indigo Plateau is an area covered by thick forests. There, a seemingly untouched wildlife habitat was bathing under the care of the almighty sun.. When most of the Pokémon stopped their activities to welcome the arrival of their trainer.

A figure wearing a dark blue overcoat arrived at the scene.

"I'm back." Claimed the young trainer, releasing his party to join the others.

"What a day. I thought we were going to have some nice lunch for once in a while, but that cursed Genetic Pokémon just had to ruin it for me." Stated Ash in disappointment, which was now going to go back to his 'house'. "Go get some rest, you guys, I'm sure you all trained without me here." Ash said, smiling. All his Pokémon went back to their respective areas, making sure that they had a comfortable place to rest for the night. "Now, I'm going to get some rest also." Pikachu followed him shortly after.

Ash sat on his chair, and placed his right hand to rest on a rock, which was shaped like an armrest.

_Clonk._

He immediately took his hand off the rock. A frown formed on Ash's eyebrows to the familiar, yet, surprising sound. He didn't see anything wrong outside or inside, and tried to rest once again.

_Clonk._

Annoyed by the sound, he stood up and check the exteriors once again. Finding nothing, he tried to rest. _Again._

_Clonk._

"Hrrnnh..." Ash let out a growl showing his displeasure at this situation, but decided to ignore it. He went to his self-made 'refrigerator' to grab a drink with his right hand.

_Clurnk._

"_Again!" _ He thought.

He sat down, passing his drink to his left hand, and sat down to relax once more.

_Clonk._

He raised an eyebrow, starting to get an idea where the sound was coming from. He lifted his metallic, artificial right hand, and placed it back on the rock.

_Clonk._

He repeated the same process, but this time while looking at it.

_Clonk._

The little yellow creature who was watching from the beginning was laughing at his unusually relaxed attitude for the night.

"Darn it.. I must've dropped my glove when I was picking up Pikachu! Curse that stupid Genetic Pokémon!" Ash shouted while exiting the cave, forgetting to wear his overcoat. "Come on Pikachu, we're going back to Pallet." Pikachu gave an understanding look, then hopped on to his right shoulder. "We're going to make this fast; better hold on tight." "Pika!" Pikachu said with an excited face and holding a thumb up.

Ash had a happy look while jumping tremendous distances, closing in to Pallet. "_Maybe I'll get to see her again." _He thought to himself, and laughed a little. Pikachu, knowing his partner too well, smiled at this scene. "_Happy that you might see the champ again after so long?" _Hearing his partner hit the spot, Ash had a blush on his cheeks. "_Oh shut up, or you won't get to see the day after tomorrow." _Ash quickly replied, still with the blush. "_The day after tomorrow?" _His Pikachu had a questioning look.

"_Teasing doubles your special training." _He said while grinning, then covering a large distance with a jump.

* * *

**9:25 PM  
Unknown Location**

*Sigh*

"This thing is going ridiculously slow." A man with #3 written on his back said, looking at the newly activated device.

"Oooh, that's what she said." A younger man with #27 written replied.

"Oh, grow up."

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**9:27 PM  
Pallet Town  
New Landmark Tree  
0.50%**

Cynthia was sitting, leaning on the huge tree behind the Ketchum residence. She looked to her right to the tombstone, then continued her stargazing, carrying a depressed look on her face.

Ash had just arrived in Pallet, trying to find a good clearing to land. He had to suppress his falling speed.

He raised his right metal hand that opened small holes around the wrist, which pulled the air around Ash to enter the artificial hand. This time, the holes appeared on the edges of the palm, below each finger. He lowered his hand, and flipped his palm so that it faced upwards. The holes released the newly received air to surround his body, coating him. The air coat's course went against the direction Ash was falling, reducing his fall speed. Decreasing his altitude, he is slowly trying to settle behind the huge tree, accidentally hearing Cynthia's thoughts.

"I wonder how many times he's saved me." She smiled brightly. "There's those times with Team Rocket," she started counting with her fingers, stopping at three. "When Team Aqua and Magma tried to join operations in Sinnoh," adding one more finger to the count. "And that time at Spear Pillar..." she suddenly stopped when she remembered the time at Spear Pillar. "If only I had my Pokémon team then.. I could've saved him."

Ash, hearing her thoughts, is still focusing on his silent and smooth landing. Only at the sight of a flying Snorlax could he flinch and mess up his techniques. Then again, he had seen his Noctowl lift his Snorlax. 50 feet away from the ground, he started to speed his descent.

"It's been four years, but.. I just can't forget about him." Cynthia stated, with a blush on her cheeks.

Ash completely stopped in mid-air, processing what he just heard. _Literally_. A couple of seconds later, he finally snapped back to reality, however, losing his concentration on his hand, making all the air vents close. "Curse that stupid Genetic Pokémon!" He said while free-falling.

Hearing someone said something, Cynthia immediately got up and turned around, to see a person falling.

Ash tried to soften his fall with a kick to the back when he hit the ground to lunge his body forward and roll. When his vision kicked in, he saw his a tombstone in front of him, with his face ready to bash the Squirtle out of the stone. Realizing his situation, he stopped his rolling motion with a reflex, stretching out his left arm to the ground, the other grabbing the tombstone's top.

_Thud._

Surprised seeing the entrance the person made, she tilted her head with confusion. She saw a figure wearing a dark coloured turtleneck shirt, with sleeves elbow-long. "_That's.. The person from earlier, with the Pikachu." _She thought, seeing his Pikachu doing a headstand, with swirls in its eyes. She saw the figure kneeling, one hand stretching to grab to tombstone. A hand that catched her attention. Her eyes widened at this sight, remembering a person who lost a similar body part four years ago. A person who she saw _died._

Ash, who was trying to recover from his very basic mistake of losing his focus, attempted to stand up, not realizing he was being examined. His Pikachu, who was feeling okay, jumped to his trainer's shoulder that was swaying from left to right.

Cynthia examined the person who seemed to have fallen from the sky, now trying to stand up. Long, Raven-like hair, handsome facial features, taller than her. With the sight of his artificial, metallic hand, and his Pikachu on his shoulder, an image of that person flashed in her mind.

"_I should've worn my overcoat!" _Thought the young trainer, who was starting to regain his composure. Pikachu gave an understanding look. The man was usually composed and dignified, but he loses composure when he gets close or thinks about his romantic interest. "_Curse that stupid Genetic Pokémon!"_ he cursed once more, not realizing he was holding his forehead with his right hand, revealing his metallic arm.

Cynthia, still dumbfounded from the sight of this trainer and his entrance, broke the silence.

"... Ash? Ash Ketchum?"

"..."

"_Mewtwo! I can't be found out here! You're responsible for this, help me!"_

The cloaked Pokémon then appeared, teleporting them both away from Pallet.

* * *

**Well, that's it for chapter 2. Hope you like this too, and I hope I didn't make too many mistakes =S**

**Yup, I decided to give the two an early meeting. This fanfic is still open for ideas, suggestions are welcomed.**

**Now then, I'm off to finish my lunch!**

**Please review.**

**Also, #3 and #27 _will _be back. Brace yourselves.**


	3. Plans

**Now that the happier chapter 2 is done, let's proceed to the third one.**

**This one is a bit more serious compared to the second chapter, had this one almost done when I uploaded ch. 2.**

**A bit shorter, but I hope you get a kick out of this.**

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**Consilium**

**9:30 PM  
Unknown Place**

"Wonder what's for dinner today?" a man who was sitting down on a stool asked while watching a device counting up. It said _0.74%._

"Don't know, #3." The younger one said to the person called #3.

"Let's just hope it's big enough to satisfy me, #27." Said #3 with a straight face to the younger man.

"... Oh!" #27 shouted in surprise. "What?"

"That's what she said." #27 replied with a big grin on his face.

"... That was a good one, I have to admit." Said the older man while they both laugh together.

**

* * *

**

**9:30 PM  
Indigo Plateau Outskirts  
0.75%**

"Safe!" They landed next to the river close to Ash's home. Then he saw that Mewtwo included the champion in the teleportation as well. "Not safe." he murmured.

"_No harm no foul, Chosen One." _The legendary Pokemon said once again. "_You shall be needing help in your plan. And I have brought the perfect person for it, Ash." _said the cloaked figure with a straight face, then teleported away.

Cynthia's eyes widened at the sight of the mysterious Pokemon, but she was even more surprised when she heard it called the young trainer 'Ash'.

Ash looked at the champion, who was silent during the whole scene. He then gave off a sigh. He got ready for some talking.

"Alright, I know you have some questions. Well, _a lot _of questions. However, if you don't get back to Pallet soon, there're going to look for you. And if they are, they'll ask questions when you return. So I'm going to make this quick."

* * *

**Next Day, 9:00 AM  
Route 22**

"Hurry, guys!" shouted the young Pokémon trainer, wearing a green shirt and khaki trousers.

"Slow down, Max." said the older man with squinty eyes, chasing Max from behind. "We have plenty of time."

"Brock's right, Max. We still have a little over one and a half weeks to the conference. What's the big hurry?" the girl wearing a green bandana stated, joining the conversation. "Well May, I want to practice as soon as we get to the Indigo Plateau. I can't waste anymore time lounging around!" the boy excitedly said as he's jogging on one spot, signalling his travelling companions to hurry up. "I'm sure they have great food there, May!" Max attempted to entice his big sister to make haste with food. "Food..? _Great_ food?" "You bet! And a lot of them too!" "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" shouted the big sister, grabbing Max's hand and running ahead.

"They never change, do they?" commented a blue haired Pokémon trainer, wearing a beanie over her head. "Not really, I guess. You're going to compete in the conference too, right, Dawn?" asked Brock while avoiding some branches on the way. "Yep! How about you, Brock?" "Not me, I'll be taking the crowds' seat this time, like usual. Someone's got to watch all the stuff!" said Brock playfully, still avoiding the branches.

"_I'm going to get hit at _least _once. I just know it." _ Thought the man. "Say, where's Barry? He was with us just a moment ago." Asked Brock. "He's over there, with May and Max. It seems like they're already exhausted from their running.

"He's always in a hurry, just like his father." Stated the long, blonde haired trainer from the back, commenting on the father-and-son trait. "You got that right, Cynthia." Agreed Dawn, while nodding his head, while Brock followed, before getting a smack in the face from a branch. The champion and the top coordinator both laughed seeing the scene.

* * *

_**Previous Day, 9:30 PM  
Indigo Plateau Outskirts**_

"_Alright, I know you have some questions. Well, a lot of questions. However, if you don't get back to Pallet soon, there're going to look for you. And if they do, they'll ask questions. So I'm going to make this quick."_

_Cynthia nodded._

"_I'll save the story how I survived for later, in Indigo Plateau." Ash went inside the cave, and came back with two sheets of paper. "That 'team', which we encountered for years ago, is planning to do the same thing. Soon, when the Grand Conference ends." He took a pen from his pocket, and spread the first map._

"_Route 22, Victory Road, Route 23. Your group is going to travel through these routes, I believe?" asked Ash._

"_Uh... Yes." Said the champion, who is still trying to grasp the fast-paced information that is flying to her._

"_Now, Route 22. Linear path, bordered with trees. These places, take good notes of these." He circled two points, one in the middle of the path, and two others, each one beside the entrance of Victory Road. "Enemy traps. Ambushes. Confrontation. Whatever you want to call it. They're going to try to stop your group here, at these points."_

"_Ambushes? But why us?" asked Cynthia._

_Ash sighed. "I know it's been pretty hectic the last 30 minutes, but do try to keep up. I was going to do this myself, but I just realized there's another thing that I have to do. Mewtwo did the right thing bringing you here." He raised his forefinger, just like a teacher teaching a pre-school student._

"_Your group tomorrow will contain most of the people that took down their organization four years ago. Realizing their plans quick enough, you stopped them in time before they open the path to the other dimension. They don't want that again. Now, they're trying to eliminate you before they go to step 2 of their plan." He took a brief pause, and then continued. "Once you arrive at these points, get ready for anything."_

"_I... I see. But... How did you know of all these?" asked the champion after accepting the information from the young trainer. Ash smiled. "Let's just say I have my sources."_

_

* * *

_

**Present time, 9:10 AM  
Route 22**

After finally catching up to the May's group, they continued along the linear path.

Nearing the first contact point, Cynthia got ready to defend the group. She grabbed a PokeBall, and was just about to release it when her companions said something.

"Something's wrong." Brock said. "You're right. It's too quite here." Max replied, taking a defensive stance.

"Golbat! Air cutter!"  
"Skuntank! Flamethrower!"

"Looks like we've got Galactic Company!" Brock stated while throwing his PokeBall.

* * *

**8:59 AM  
Galactic Mobile Base - Veni  
Northern Hangar**

"_We're here, Lucario." _The man in his usual dark clothing said telepathically to his Lucario. He was wearing a balaclava, covering the lower half of his face only. His Lucario was following behind him, not making any sound.

"_Right. From the looks of their position, they'll get to contact point Alpha in 10 minutes. Setting countdown to 660 seconds. Starting the timer. Re-state objective, Lucario, 20 seconds." _Ash said to Lucario_. "Infiltration of the mobile base Veni, making our way to the Central Roof Heliport. There, we are to stop Commander Mars from reinforcing contact point Bravo, and the Victory Road ambush by stopping Saturn." _The Pokémon elaborated. "_Good. Re-state course, another 40 seconds." "We are to enter the Main Building separately, with Master using the Eastern Hangar exit, and myself using the Western Hangar exit. Once inside the Main Building, we take our respective staircases to the Third Floor, with Master exiting there to take the main elevator to the rooftop. On the Third Floor, I shall set the packages in place. We will rendezvous at 0910, the same place we are now."_ Explained the blue and black Pokémon. "_Excellent. This will go smoothly. "_

Ash, looking at his watch, saw that the timer has gone down to 607 seconds. "_Right, 6.. 5.. 4.. 3.."_

"_Remember. Eliminate every resistance. No killing." _Ash said his final order_. "Go!"_

Ash quickly headed to the Eastern Exit, while Lucario went to the opposite side. Ash opened the door, speeding through the long, light blue corridor. Sensing a difference in the air pressure near the three-way junction up ahead, he quickly dove forward, turning his body to the right and pointed his fore and middle finger to one of the guards that was minding his own business.

_Pssht!_

A burst of sharp, thin air was quickly released from the two holes on the tip of Ash's fingers. Hitting the guard on the chest, the man was pushed backwards by the pressure, collapsing at the direct contact with the wall. He then did the same with the next guard. He continued to make his way to his destination.

Encountering more resistance, Ash quickly took them out. "The old man didn't do a bad job this time." Stated the young man while looking at his metallic arm.

Before long, Ash arrived at the Main Building, followed by Lucario seconds later. Ash pointed at the western staircase for Lucario, and proceeded to take the eastern staircase. With no resistance on their way to the third floor, they arrived there safely, to find that most of the Galactic members are on the Third Floor for a weapons check. They were compromised, with a couple of dozens of Galactic members to face.

"_We have 330 seconds left. Eliminate everyone. 30 seconds maximum. No aura, hand-to-hand combat only. Suppress powers; Remember. I don't want any of them dead." _Ash instructed his Lucario, who nodded signalling understanding. "_Well then, let`s start."_

Ash jumped forward, giving the first person on his way a knee to the face. He then did a back flip, and ran forward to start out a combo with a roundhouse kick. With his skills in martial arts, these amounts of inexperienced enemies were no problem to him. Ash did a straight kick, hitting a grunt on the face, taking a couple of teeth out. "They don't even put up a fight."

In less than 20 seconds, all of the Galactic members are wiped out, except for one.

"Ah... Aaaah! Monsters!" shouted the grunt, while running away.

Ash quickly jumped to land in front of him, who was stopped in his tracks. He couldn't move at the sight of the young man, who didn't seem to be fazed at all, when he already fought more than 30 guys. And _won._

"... Monsters? Now, that's not very nice, is it? Tell you what. I'm going to make this quick and painless for you!" Ash said with a big smile. "What do you mea-" He fell to the ground, face first.

"_Well, that was easy. Now, let's proceed. Do what you have to do here, Lucario." _With that, Lucario disappeared into one the rooms on the floor.

Ash went into the main elevator, pressing RT on the interface.

* * *

"We'd better get going. I have to reinforce Victory Road's Galactic units." Said the man with the blue hair, raised only on the sides. He was wearing a silver jumpsuit, with a 'G' imprint on his chest.

"I guess so, Saturn." Answered the red-headed woman with a similar outfit. "We don't want those brats getting to Indigo Plateau."

The proceeded to board their own carriers.

_Ding._

"Who are you? Don't come any closer! Identify yourself!" a grunt screamed.

Hearing this, they stopped just before they boarded, and looked to see what was going on. They saw a tall person, wearing a dark blue overcoat. Long, messy raven-like hair, partly covering his face.

"..." The person didn't say anything. He lifted his hand, and pulled down his balaclava that was covering his nose and mouth. The straight face now had a grin. A very noticeable one.

"Remember _**me**_?" the person said while pulling his overcoat's right sleeve, revealing his metallic, artificial hand.

* * *

**1:00 PM  
Victory Road  
Indigo Plateau Entrance/Exit**

"I thought we crushed those goons ages ago!" Max was stretching after he said this. "Those guys are starting to look like Team Rocket."

"I see Indigo Plateau!" shouted her big sister who was standing beside him. "I can't wait for all those great food!"

"I can't wait to go shopping!" Dawn claimed.

"Aren't we supposed to go meet with Misty and the others first? I'm sure those activities can wait." Brock suggested.

"Yes, I'd say we do that first, and sign in to our hotels first. After, you can do anything you want!" the champion supported the gym leader of Pewter city.

"Okaaaay..." said the disappointed girls in unison.

* * *

**Previous Day, 9:33 PM  
Indigo Plateau Outskirts**

"_Victory Road will be a cinch if I take out Saturn__. And I _will_ take him out. Route 23 is clear. So, the problem isn't there.__" Ash said while taking out the other map._

"_It's here." Placing the Indigo Plateau village map in front of them._

"_Those guys need a strong trainer to help them open the dimensional right. Where to find that strong trainer? Th-"_

"_The Grand Conference." Cynthia said, completing his sentence._

_Ash smiled at the champion. "Yeah. Looks like you're beginning to catch up. Now, the problem in the village. They've set up their positions in the city. Being a champion, you won't need to participate in the preliminaries. At that time, I need you to check out these places I have marked on the map. Can you do that?" the map was offered to Cynthia as he asked._

"_Definitely." Cynthia replied with a smile on her face._

"_Good!" He stood up, offering his hand to help her stand up. She took his hand. "Good luck, Cynthia, and see you tomorrow for the rest of the story." Still holding her hand, he closed in and kissed her forehead._

"_Mewtwo, take her back to Pallet."_

"_Certainly." The legendary Pokemon stated just as he appeared on the scene, teleporting the champion back to Pallet Town. The next thing she knew, she was standing in front of the huge tree behind the Ketchum house with a face bright red like a tomato._

_

* * *

_

**Right, that's it for chapter 3.**

**Ash showed a little of his skills with the metal arm, there'll be more to come.**

**A little heads up; I don't think I can update for a week, at most.**

**Hope you enjoyed my story so far.**

**Please review!**


	4. Thanatos

**I'm back! With more Ashy goodness.**

**Thank you for the reviews to those who did so =)**

* * *

**Thanatos**

**9:10 AM  
Galactic Mobile Base – Veni  
Northern Hangar  
2.50%**

"Well, that's that." Said a young trainer wearing a dark blue overcoat. He was carrying two people on each of his shoulders, placing them near the exit. "They sure are heavy." He commented.

The Western Exit door opened, revealing a black and blue pokemon with spikes on the back of its hands.

"_I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?" _asked the Pokemon to its trainer. "Good reference, Lucario. I see you've been reading human books. The noise came from these two, in case you were wondering. And why read Shakespeare?" answered the trainer, while putting on his glove.

"_I like them. I find them intriguing." _Replied Lucario. "Whatever you say. So, what did you find?" He walked over to a stool, and moved it to a clearer space. "_As you expected, there were two of the Three Lake Trios. Azelf was in a bigger cage, which looked like a permanent cage, where I placed the first package. Uxie, on the other hand, seemed to be locked in a portable cage." _Reported Lucario to the trainer, who was still trying to fix the stool's position. "That makes sense. This is Mars' base, and she captured Azelf, and that explains the permanent cage. Uxie, on the other hand, was captured by Saturn, who was ordered to never leave the Pokemon alone, which explains the portable cage." Explained the trainer, who was still messing with the stool. "Mewtwo, are you ready to alter their memories?"

"_Certainly." _A cloaked Pokemon appeared in the scene.

"Make it seem like this mobile base were invaded by a swarm of wild grass Pokemon, an awful lot in numbers. They overwhelmed the guards, and casted sleep powder all over the place. As for these two, add this part. They were taken by surprise on the roof, tied up with vine whip, they were taken down here as hostages, and they were finally freed after the grass Pokemon got bored. Hmm... Reason for invasion: Pokemon Food in the storage. I'm sure you can work out the details." Said the trainer who chuckled for a bit. "After that, can you please finish my other request?"

"_... I feel overworked." _Stated Mewtwo while teleporting away.

"_Why alter their memories?" _asked Lucario, who closed in to the two unconscious people.

"If we took them down right now, 'he' will be very suspicious of this. Not only he will lose a mobile base, he will lose his two commanders. Our job was to place those packages on the cages. Now, you want to see my new move I've been working on?" He moved far away from the stool while taking off his glove. "This is why I've been training my left hand lately.

Lucario nodded.

"Alright, let's do this." He got into his fighting stance, getting ready to punch with his metal fist. Holes once again opened on his artificial arm, this time only two, on the back of his hand. It started releasing air to coat his arm with high pressure winds, and he started running. He jumped a short height, and brought his fist down in a tremendous speed, in a motion that seemed like he was going to crush the stool flat on the ground. However, he stopped just before he hit the stool, very suddenly, just centimetres away.

A second later, the stool broke down to small pieces like parmesan cheese.

"I call this one... _Acer Ventus._"

_(Latin, translated lit. as 'Sharp Wind')_

* * *

**1:15 PM  
Indigo Plateau  
Grand Conference Reception Building**

"Hi, I would like to register, please!" said a very young trainer wearing glasses.

"Alright, may I have your Pokedex please?" the receptionist replied with a bright smile.

"Sure thing!" He opened his bag and took out a Hoenn version Pokedex. The young boy then handed the device to the receptionist.

"Thank you. Right..." The receptionist inserted the Pokedex into a rectangular scanner, waiting for the data to be uploaded. "Max, from Petalburg city. Your nominator is Prof. Birch, correct?" the lady asked the young boy.

"Righty-o! It wasn't easy getting a recommendation from him, y'know?" answered Max, who had a very cocky look on his face. The lady smiled. "Well, it _is _the Grand Conference. It only happens once in five years, and every trainer that participates here have to be recommended by people who we have on the list we have sent to every Pokedex." Explained the young receptionist.

"That just proves I'm strong!" said the boy who was getting his confidence over the roof.

"Let's not be over-confident, now, Max." Commented an older man who had small eyes.

"I haven't lost for the past two months, Brock!" claimed Max. "That doesn't mean you're going to be undefeated here, Max. There's only strong trainers here, strong enough to be recommended by important figures in the Pokémon world." Said Brock, who was trying to calm the boy down.

"Brock's right, Max. Don't forget that I was nominated with my victory from the Kanto Grand Festival! And Dawn from the Johto Grand Festival!" commented the big sister of the young boy.

"That's right May!" Dawn added to May's statement.

"Well I got mine from being a Gym Leader in Cerulean City. And Brock, who suddenly just decided to join the competition, from being the Pewter City Gym leader. What's up with the sudden change, Brock?" an orange-haired girl stated, while finishing her registration.

"My parents said I have to join, no excuses, Misty." Brock answered Misty while crying anime tears.

"I'm surprised when I saw the list on our Pokedex, though." Dawn commented while opening her Sinnoh version Pokedex, checking the list again. "I know there's a lot of world renowned trainers, Professors and researchers, but some of them I've just never heard of. I mean, take this person for example." She said while pointing to a person's name and title on the list.

Brock came close to the Pokedex in an attempt to read the name. "... Dr. Raito? Never heard of him before."

"Exactly." Said Dawn, making her point.

"The people recommended by him are probably just a bunch of weaklings. We don't even know what this Raito guy does!" Max said while shrugging. "I bet nobody even wants to be nominated by him."

"Don't be so rude, Max. Although I have to agree on some parts." May commented on her brother's statement.

* * *

"This is the reception building, I think. This village has grown to a pretty big city. Wonder why they still call it a village?" a person wearing a dark blue overcoat stated while standing in front of the main doors. His Pikachu, who was sitting on his shoulders, was happily eating ketchup. "Easy on the ketchup. Your stomach will go bad." He tried to take the ketchup away, but his electrical Pokémon defended it fiercely. "Pika Pika!" the Pikachu shouted. "Alright, alright. Stuff yourself!" he chuckled while his Pikachu ate his ketchup. "Now, let's go in."

He went in the doors, and headed straight to an empty reception desk. He paid no attention to a group of familiar faces in his left.

"_Are you going to use that name, Ash?" _his Pikachu asked telepathically.

"_Yeah." _Ash answered.

"Hey there, I would like to register to the Grand Conference please." Said the trainer.

"Good afternoon sir. May I have your Pokedex please?" the receptionist asked Ash.

"Yes, here it is." He grabbed a red Pokedex from his pocket, and handed it to the young lady.

"Thank you, sir..." the lady placed the Pokedex in another one of the rectangular scanner, and the data was uploaded, revealing his registered name. "Sir.. _Thanatos_? That's one unique name, if I may say so, sir." Remarked the young receptionist at the trainer with the unusual name.

"That's quite alright, miss." Answered Ash, smiling, while removing his hair from his face to reveal his good facial features, which surprised the young lady and made her stare, forgetting her job. "Miss?" Ash asked, snapping her back to reality. "A, Ah! Sorry about that. Did you come from somewhere far, Mr. Thanatos? And you have a very cute Pikachu." the receptionist asked while starting to work on the registration again. "Not far enough, and thank you." He answered. "I see. Now, I only need your letter of nomination or recommendation." The lady stated. "Ah, sure." He took out a piece of paper from his pocket, and gave it to the receptionist. "Thank you. Now, let's see.. Your nominator is.. _Dr. Raito_, correct?" she asked.

"Correct."

* * *

"Did I just hear somebody being recommended by that Raito guy?" Max curiously asked after hearing the receptionist on his right. "Oh.. Wait! He's the guy with the flying Pikachu!" he shouted.

"Where?" Brock asked.

"There!" he pointed at a person wearing dark-coloured attire. "Oh, you're right. Let's go over and say hi. Maybe we can get some information about this Raito person." Brock walked over to the person with the Pikachu on his shoulders, and opened a conversation.

"Hello there. We met in Pallet town, we saw your Pikachu do that incredible summersault." He said to the person, opening the conversation. "Ah- Sorry about the trouble at that time." The person apologized and did a slight nod. "My Pikachu likes to play around, and my other Pokémon helped him made the big jump. They really have to be more careful." He explained. "Oh no, that's quite alright. He didn't cause us any trouble, right, guys?" Brock said, asking his friends.

"Oh yeah, definitely! Your Pikachu is incredibly cute, so it's okay!" Dawn answered, while looking at the Pikachu, who was hiding behind his trainer's head. "I wonder if it doesn't like me."

"Nah, he's just shy." The person answered.

"Anyways, I'm Brock. I'll be participating in the competition too, it seems." Brock extended his hand for a handshake. The trainer looked at his hand for a second, and returned the gesture, raising his right hand with a glove. They shook hands.

"My name is Max!"

"I'm Misty, this is May and Dawn." Misty introduced her friends.

"Very nice to meet you all. My name is Thanatos." Said Ash, who introduced himself as Thanatos. He had his face covered with his hair once again.

"What a weird na-" Max attempted to comment, but was cut off by her sister.

"Pardon my brother here, he's a little bit impolite." May tried to explain to their new acquaintance, who seemed undisturbed by the young boy.

"That's quite alright, Miss. I get that a lot." Stated Thanatos. He looked around for a second, and proceeded to ask a question. "Is the Sinnoh Champion with you today? I saw her in Pallet with your group."

"Oh, Cynthia? She registered early today, and stayed behind at the hotel with that guy from the Elite Four. Lucian, was it?" Dawn answered.

"Really? I see. I would have liked to get some training tips from her." After stating the lie, he got ready to leave. "I have to go now, I have an event to attend to. It was very nice meeting you all." He walked to the exit while waving his hand to gesture goodbye.

"Leaving already? Well alright. Have a good day, Thanatos." Brock said, while doing the same hand gesture, as did the rest of the group.

* * *

**1:20 PM  
Unknown Location**

"Why do I still see those brats alive and well?" said a man with an intimidating voice. "I thought I specifically ordered Mars and Saturn to stop them, and even authorized the mobilization of the Mobile Base Veni." He stated with a frustrated look.

"Commanders Mars and Saturn are here, sir!" a grunt reported.

"Let them in." Ordered the man, flashing the 'G' imprint on his vest. "Mars and Saturn. Care to explain why I still see those brats, along with that champion, still walking around, and even got to register in the Grand Conference?" the blue-haired man asked,

"We.. Well, sir.." the red-haired girl started. "We were invaded."

The leader widened his eyes at this report. "The police? Special Forces? Damn it."

"Uh.. No, sir." The other commander answered.

"Then who?" shouted the leader.

"It was.. By a swarm of Grass Pokémon looking for food, sir. We were overwhelmed by their numbers! It wasn't countable!" the man tried to explain desperately.

"Are you serious?" Both of the Commanders nodded, along with some of the officers in the back who was victims of the invasion also. "Fine. I'll let you off the hook this time. You're going send your people to take out this kids again, you two useless people stay to guard your designated Pokémon. Should you fail again, I'll make sure to remove you in the same way like that cocky brat four years ago."

* * *

**1:25 PM  
Indigo Plateau  
City Streets**

"Curses." The young trainer cursed while walking down the street. "I forgot to ask what hotel they were staying at. I don't like Lucian being with her. I heard he likes to play around with girls, taking advantage of his Elite Four fame." "_Jealous, Ash?" _Pikachu asked. "Tsch, obviously." He answered honestly.

"_By the way, I heard you came up with another lame Latin name for your new technique. What's up with that?" _His yellow mouse asked. "I don't want to name it an English name, that would be even more pathetic. Imagine me saying that while doing my new technique. 'Sharp Wind!'" he said while doing a punching motion. "See?"

"_I guess so."_ His Pikachu said with a shrug. "_Now what?"_

"We look for Cynthia."

* * *

"Lucian, where are we going?" the blonde-haired woman asked her fellow Pokémon trainer on their destination.

"You'll see, Cynthia. It's not every day that we get to go to Indigo Plateau." The elite four answered. He was pushing the champion, forcing her to go.

"Forget it, Lucian, I'm not going. I'm staying at the hotel." She turned back, rejecting Lucian's offer.

"Tsch, why do you make it so hard?" Lucian grabbed the Sinnoh champion by the wrist, trying to pull her to make her go. "You better not resist, people are starting to watch."

* * *

"_I spy.. A blonde woman! But not the person we're looking for." _Said the little electrical mouse telepathically while looking to the left.

"_I spy.. A tall woman! But not the one we're looking for." _Stated the creature, this time looking to the right.

"Are you looking for her seriously, Pikachu?" asked his trainer to his Pokémon who was on his head, trying to stop the Sinnoh champion.

"_I am! Now. I spy.. Another blonde woman.. With weird hair clips.. Black coat.." _described Pikachu while squinting.

"That's her! Let's go!" said his trainer who started running to the place where his Pikachu was looking at.

"_Wait, Ash! She's with someone.. Purple hair.. Glasses.. And it seems he's pulling her, but she doesn't want to go with him!" _explained the Pokémon.

Ash saw the scene, and took off his right glove. He quickly put his hand in his pocket to not reveal his metallic arm, leaving only a little part of the artificial arm out. This little section opened a hole which pulled in air.

Not long after, it released one line of sharp wind.

* * *

"Come on, just follow me!" Lucian said, still trying to pull the champion, now attracting a bigger crowd.

_Swoosh!_

Lucian felt a strong wind flew by, and then tried to get back to making Cynthia go with him. A second later, he felt his pants became loose.

"_It feels a little bit breezy down there. Wonder If I forgot to close my zipper?" _Thought the man, who then looked down to check. There, he found his pants on the ground, revealing his duck-patterned boxers.

People around them started to laugh, many took out their cell phones and started taking pictures of the rare candid picture of the famous Sinnoh Elite Four member. "No! Don't look!" he screamed, with a high pitched voice.

With everyone distracted with Lucian and his pants on the ground, Cynthia took this chance and got away from the scene, only to be grabbed by a person, and taken away on a ridiculously high jump.

"Well, hello there, princess." The person said.

She looked at him, and noticed a familiar figure.

"Ash?"

"Nope. I'm your prince in shining armour. Call me 'Sir Ash'." He said with a big grin on his face.

* * *

**And that's chapter 4, hope you got a kick out of this one too.**

**People registering for the conference, and a little bit of development on the rayshipping.**

**As usual, please review.**

**Also, pants on the ground!**


	5. Past

**Alright, here's chapter 5.**

**I kept it nice and short, since I would like to dedicate a short, separate chapter just for this.**

**Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

**Praeteritus Preteritus**

_**Previous Day, 11:00 PM  
Indigo Plateau Outskirts  
Pokémon Meeting**_

"_Right. Let's get the monthly meeting started." Said a large orange lizard, with a flame burning on its tail._

"_Let's just get to the point, Charizard. What's the bet this month?" a red Pokémon with a figure similar to a human, with two claws._

"_Calm down, Scizor." A blue and black Pokémon commented, who had spikes on the back of both his hands. "We are all interested in the prize for this month."_

"_Yes, but sadly, only six of us can compete this month." A little yellow mouse said while eating ketchup directly from a bottle. "Ash already chose the party for the final match, after all."_

"_Indeed." All the Pokémon nodded in unison._

"_Right, so let's introduce the bet this time." The Pikachu continued. "Tomorrow Ash is going to be meeting Cynthia again, I'm sure you all know that."_

_Again, they nodded._

"_We're going to predict the outcome of the meeting!" Pikachu excitedly said._

"_What? More of this 'romance' ordeal?" the dark and blue Pokémon asked in annoyance._

"_Simple enough." A blue dragon said while sitting on a rock._

"_And the winner will get to go first in the final match?" another blue Pokémon added. It has four legs and a large 'X' on its face._

"_Yes." Charizard answered. "Ash is already determined on going through all the rounds with only Pikachu. You lucky mouse." The lizard said to the electrical mouse. "Hey, I won the last month's bet fair and square." Pikachu answered._

"_Now, let's get the predictions down. I'll be the judge this time." A shiny bird Pokémon said, while scratching the rock to make a scoreboard. "You have 3 minutes to predict what's going to happen."_

_The group stayed quiet for the next 3 minutes, and the Noctowl signalled the end of the thinking period. "Right, time to put the bets."_

"_Charizard?" the bird asked. "Holding hands, through a handshake. He fainted after he kissed her forehead just now; I bet he's not going to be brave enough to do more the next day. He's not good at this stuff." The orange lizard explained. "Right, cause you're a pro at this." The bird said sarcastically. "Shut up." Ignoring the warning, the bird went to write at the rock._

"_Moving on. Pikachu?" the bird looked at the mouse. "A kiss on the cheek? From Cynthia." The yellow creature answered. "Okay..." Noctowl went to write again._

"_Salamence?" this time, he looked at the blue dragon with the large red wings. "A hug. She's liked him for four years, but she's not daring enough to go for a kiss. Or at least that's the impression I got." Commented the dragon. Noctowl wrote this one also._

"_Lucario?" He switched to the other party member, who looked confused. "I do not know.. I am not good at all when it comes to this kind of thing. I did not even know that Master had a romantic interest." He answered. "Right.. I'll put that down as 'Nothing Happens'." The bird said, and went to the rock again._

"_Scizor?" the red Pokémon was leaning on a tree, looking very calm. He seemed confident in his answer. "Second base!" he confidently answered. Hearing this, everyone flinched and fell. "Are you sure about that?" the bird asked while trying to get up. "Definitely." Said the bug Pokémon while waving his claw in a confident manner. "Ri.. Right." The bird went over to the rock to write Scizor's answer, but stopped in the middle of writing. "Why stop at the second base? You know what, I don't even want to know." The bird went back to write his answer. "He gets interrupted by someone or something. That's what I was thinking." The steel Pokémon replied. "Oh, I thought he's impo- You know, let's stop this conversation here." The bird finished jolting down the answer._

"_Moving right along. Metagross?" the bird asked the steel-psychic type Pokémon. "A kiss on the lips." The pseudo-legendary answered. "Right, let me write that down and end this meeting for this month." Noctowl finished writing the bets. "I'm off to sleep, then. See you guys." He flew off to his tree._

"_I guess we better get some rest too. Especially you, Lucario, you have that 'special op' tomorrow." Pikachu said._

"_Indeed." Lucario answered, while walking to the resting area._

_Everyone else followed, while Pikachu went back to the cave._

_

* * *

_

**1:25 PM  
Indigo Plateau  
Alleyway**

After a high jump, Ash was beginning to descend, still holding the Sinnoh champion bridal-style, who was still in a daze after another surprise from her _prince_ and his Pikachu.

They safely made a smooth landing.

They walked out of the alleyway and started walking.

"What hotel are you staying at, Cynthia?" Ash asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Ah- It's the Charleston Hotel." The champion answered, who snapped out of her daze.

"Oh, okay. Let me walk you there." The man replied.

After a short walking distance, Cynthia finally got the courage to ask the question that's been on her mind for the past two days.

"So, umm.. '_Sir_' Ash, mind telling me how you're here right now?" asked the blonde-haired trainer.

"Well, I walked here." He replied with a smile.

"Of course. But what I mean is, how did you survive the incident four years ago?" she asked while trying to avoid crashing into someone.

"Ah, that. Well, do you want the long or short story?" he answered with a question.

"I don't mind the long version." She replied.

"Okay, here goes. After the long fall, when I came to, I realized-" after a short and incomplete explanation, the male trainer stopped talking and walking. Cynthia stopped when she realized that Ash has completely stopped walking, and turned around to see what was wrong. "What's wro-" before she could finish her sentence, she saw Ash's face, whose eyes had widened a big deal from looking at something.

Cynthia turned around once again to see what it was.

A man with blue hair was getting out of his car, wearing a formal attire, a matching striped suit. He was wearing a black shirt and a silver tie, matching his company's uniform. On his left chest, a 'G' shaped badge was pinned to his suit.

"_Cyrus_." Ash murmured. All the memories from the incident four years ago are coming back to him in a vivid instant, which couldn't be shaken off this time.

* * *

_**Four Years Ago, One Particular Day  
Mt. Coronet  
Near Spear Pillar's Entrance**_

"_Without your Pokémon, you're just as useless as the next guy on the street, aren't you, The Champion of Sinnoh?" said the blue-haired man while he was taking out a red chain from his pocket. "Now, I'm going to pry open the Dimensional space."_

"_Stop right there, Cyrus!" the blonde-haired trainer shouted, while trying to take the red chain away from the man. Cyrus, who had anticipated this, quickly ordered his Pokémon to stop the champion in a violent way. "Crobat! Air Slash!"_

"_No! Get away from there, Cynthia!" Dawn said, who was being kept busy by a number of Galactic Grunts attacking her with multiple Pokémon. May, who had just finished her share of Grunts, came to help Dawn._

_Ash, who realized Cyrus' intentions from the beginning, had already started running towards Cynthia._

_Brock, Misty and Max had just arrived in the scene, after calling help from the Police Force and taking down quite a few of Grunts._

_Ash, who couldn't make it in time by running, quickly reached out his right hand and dived forward. He pushed the champion, getting her out of the course of the Air Slash._

_He closed his eyes, not knowing what will happen._

_He could feel the Air Slash pass right through his face, pushing his hat off._

_He felt a splash of warm liquid on his arm._

_He opened his eyes, to see his right arm flying, detached from where it was supposed to be._

"_Aaaaaah!" Ash screamed out loud in pain, grieving over the loss of his right hand._

_The rest of the group watched in amazement, witnessing the unbelievable scene without being able to do anything._

"_That's what you get for trying to be the hero, brat." Cyrus said, walking up to him with a big grin on his face. He stopped in front of Ash, who was in a crawling position, still holding his right arm. "No one can stop me in my quest for a new beginning." He kicked Ash's stomach, which resulted in another scream from the boy. "Stop! How could you be so cruel?" Brock yelled from afar, who was still watching the scene, and was trying to get closer to save Ash. "Don't come any closer.. or the boy falls off the cliff." Brock immediately stopped in his tracks upon hearing the man's ultimatum. _

"_How hard it is to mold this world to my image.. that's why I will pry open the portal to the other dimension! But of course, that comes after crushing you, brat." He gave another kick, this time to Ash's face. _

"_It's far easier to create a completely new world than to change this current one!" He proceeded to punch Ash multiple times on the face. Completely powerless and numb from the pain, Ash could not manage to let out a single sound, even to express suffering._

"_No.. stop!" Misty screamed from the top of her lungs, witnessing this situation._

"_I will make a new world in which I am the ruler of all things!" Cyrus clenched his fist one more time, and gave an uppercut to Ash's jaw._

_Ash, barely having the energy to say anything, still managed to stand up. Everything seemed like a blur to him. One of his leg gave out on him for a moment, but he managed to stand up again, but he was in a difficult position. He was right next to the cliff. A very deep canyon. A bottomless pit._

_He could barely stand up._

_He could barely say anything._

_He could barely hear._

_He could barely see._

_He could barely **breathe**._

_All he could make out was Cyrus, who was getting close to him._

"_You're no human! Stop this at once, if you still have the littlest bit of human within you!" Cynthia shouted, trying to stop the leader of Team Galactic. "You promised not to kill him if we didn't get closer, and we didn't! Let him go!"_

"_That promise, I did not make." He answered._

"_You... You're mad!" she shouted in response._

_He turned around to see the champion in the eyes. "Mad? I..Shall become a deity!"_

_After turning around, Cyrus' right leg was lifted from the snow, and thrusted forward, making contact with Ash's gut._

_Ash's feet were lifted off the ground, and he was flung backwards, over the edge of the cliff, into the bottomless pit._

_

* * *

_

**Present Time, 1:30 PM  
Indigo Plateau  
City Streets**

"_Cyrus.." _Ash said under his breath. He started to walk towards the blue-haired man, who was walking towards the entrance of the restaurant in front of him. It seemed like he had an appointment with someone important.

On a nearby building, a group consisting of five Pokemon was watching the whole scene.

* * *

"_Crap, he's going to go crazy."_ An orange lizard said to his friends. "_Scizor, go with Lucario to stop him."_

"_I would've done it without you even saying it. Look at Pikachu, he's already trying to stop him. Let's go." _The Scizor replied.

"_Indeed. We do not want him destroying half of the city, with the Grand Conference coming." _Lucario answered, while jumping down the building to stop his trainer.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.**

**The next chapter will be a long one, containing the most important element in Pokemon! Pokemon _Battles_! =P**

**As usual, please review.**


	6. Round One

**I'm back, with a chapter containing a Pokemon battle. Only one though.**

**Caught up with the current animes here and there. Sengoku Basara 2 is awesome!**

**

* * *

**

**Primo**

**5:00 PM  
Unknown Location  
5.50%**

"What the hell, Old Man!" Ash shouted, after being forcefully taken away from the city streets of Indigo Plateau. "I thought he wasn't supposed to show his face in public! I'm going to lose my temper every time I see his face, and I don't want to go berserk again! What's the police doing?" claimed the young man while walking towards the old man with the long white beard.

"It's not the first time, you know. You just haven't been out of the mountains enough, Ash." Calmly replied the bearded person while turning around to see Ash. A badge could be seen pinned on his lab coat, with "Dr. Raito" in scripted on it.

"What? The terms of release specifically said for him not to go out in public for five years, it's only been 4 years!" Ash walked to a nearby stool, and sat on it with his Pikachu on his shoulder. "Pika!" his Pokémon agreed.

"Formalities. We have a lot of money, and where there's money, there's always the good ol' 'under-the-table' method. That meeting was just for the publicity. The officials didn't want the Police to lose face, so they had that meeting set up. I'm sure this case has been forgotten by the Police, not even a trace of documents left about this." Said Dr. Raito while taking sips from his coffee mug. He stood up, approaching a table close to Ash. He turned on the coffee machine for a refill. "Coffee?"

"No, thanks. Do you have tea, old man?" Ash asked.

"Yeah." The older man took a tea bag and placed it in a mug, filling it with hot water. "Sugar?"

"Sure."

"Thanks." Ash said. Dr. Raito took a tea-spoon full of sugar and placed it in the cup. He stirred it, and then gave it to Ash.

"... Darn it." The young man said before taking his sip. "Those corrupted officials. They only care about money." He stated.

"Not only that, Cyrus was very convincing when he negotiated. He's very smart. He made a 15 years sentence into a 15 minutes wait. He's darn rich, and with Galaxy's cover business, he made an unbelievable amount of money."

The older person explained. He had just finished his coffee, and was walking back to his desk. "Just concentrate on winning the conference. There are a lot of notable trainers this time. Contest winners, top notch league contenders, gym leaders, champions, you name it. This conference's the ultimate challenge for trainers. The winner of the conference will be marked the strongest. _Strongest._" He explained. "You think you can _win_?" the Doctor asked with a sarcastic tone.

"I know who they are. I've seen them battle. They're very strong alright." Ash said, still in his dark-blue overcoat. He stood up and petted his Pikachu on the forehead. He proceeded to look at the Doctor. "But not _strong_ _enough_." Said the young man with a bright smile.

"Of course, you're my number one man for hire! Hahaha!" the Doctor claimed cheerfully.

"Speaking of my number one man.. I've said this, but I'm going to warn you again. I've told the higher ups about you, _Thanatos. _Including Cyrus. And with all those feats you accomplished for us, you've grasped most of the commanders' trusts. Mars and Jupiter didn't see that attack coming at all. They know about your participation in the conference, and they expect you to win, even though they've never met you. They figured you must be loyal to me, and I'm loyal to the organization. You do the math." He explained.

"Heh. Idiots in their idiotic ways have their own idiotic worries. So from here, me and Jupiter is going to participate, correct?" Ash asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm going to see her sometime in the competition, see if she can recognize me. By the way, I like the adjustments this time around, old man. It's working smoothly, no problems so far." Ash stated, showing him his right metallic arm.

"Of course, who do you think I am?" Dr. Raito said jokingly.

Ash gave a light laugh, and then headed for the door. "Don't worry. I'll win. I _have_ to win. Got a lot on the line these times around. Heh." He picked up his gloves, wearing them. He opened the door, and proceeded to exit the room, but stopping before he was completely out. "Say, Old man."

"Hmm?"

"I'll _definitely _win. I'm going to get you out of Team Galactic once I get rid of Cyrus, just like I said when we first met." Said the young man.

The doctor smiled at this statement, and gave the young man a pat on his shoulder.

"I never doubted you, not even once."

* * *

Ash got out of the room and started to walk to the elevator. He passed some more Galactic members, and pressed the arrow-shaped button pointing up. A blue light emanated surrounding the button. After a long, silent minute, the elevator arrived, opening the door. Ash proceeded to enter the empty elevator.

He skimmed over the choices to finally land on one button with 'L' in scripted on it. The door closed, and the elevator headed up.

His Pokedex beeped suddenly in his pocket. He took the device out, opening it with his left hand, the other in his right pocket.

"Round One Preliminaries Match..." he read. "Battlefield number thirty-three, 10:00 AM... That's early." He said, while scrolling down the screen.

"Where's my opponent's info? Ah, here it is." He stopped at the sight of the trainer's picture and information. He looked at it briefly, and closed the Pokedex. The elevator arrived at the main lobby.

"What should I do after I win the match, I wonder?" He said while exiting.

* * *

**Next Day, 9:50 AM  
Indigo Plateau  
Third Battlefield Region  
Outside of Battlefield #34  
7.75% **

"Well that was easy!" Max stated, while rubbing his nose.

"Don't get too cocky, Max. The Preliminaries are only the first step to separate the weak ones and the noticeably strong ones." Brock explained. "I won my match too, by the way."

"Of course you did, Brock! All of us here will get through the Preliminaries with no sweat!" Dawn claimed excitedly while eating a scoop of vanilla ice cream. "It's fortunate that most of us got the morning matches. We can relax for the rest of the day!"

The group was wandering around the Third Battlefield Region, with no real destination.

"Oh yeah, when's your match, Misty?" May asked while checking her Pokedex to see if her next match was already decided.

"It's this evening, at 6:00 PM. I don't get why Gym Leaders have to participate in the Preliminaries too." Said the orange-haired young girl while checking her Pokedex also. "Many of the trainers here have already beaten Gym Leaders, so it's only logical that we participate too then." Brock answered.

"Hey look at that!" Max suddenly shouted while pointing at a nearby information stall. "That guy we met yesterday, Thanatos! He's competing in 5 minutes at thirty-three!"

"Ah, right, the guy who was recommended by the sketchy Doctor and the one with the flying Pikachu? He might be interesting to watch." Brock added. "So, you guys up for some more spectating?"

* * *

The group headed to Battlefield #33, and entered the battlegrounds. The hall was almost empty, since the trainers battling inside are not that well known. They looked for seats close to the battleground to get a good view of the battle. The referee soon entered the arena.

"This match is between Bob of Lilycove city and... Thanatos of..." the referee paused. "Sorry, where are you from, sir?" he asked.

"Not important." The young man answered. His hair was covering his face so that people could hardly make out what he looked like.

"Okay! This match will be between Bob of Lilycove city and Thanatos! Only two Pokémon will be allowed in this match. The match will be decided to be over when both Pokémon from one side is unable to battle, or the trainer forfeits. Now, begin!"

"Crush them, Golem!" Bob shouted while throwing a red and white ball. A massive circular Pokémon then appeared.

"A Golem, huh? I wonder what Pokémon Thanatos is going to choose." Max commented. "That Golem looks very strong though, it seems well trained." He added.

"Pikachu." Thanatos said to his yellow partner. The little mouse then jumped off his shoulder and positioned himself on the arena.

"His Pikachu? He's going to be in a serious type disadvantage!" Max commented. "Yeah, that's true. But if that Pikachu knows steel-type moves, then it might stand a chance. Still, I would've come up with a better choice, if I were him. That Pikachu will be overpowered." Brock answered while giving his own comment about the choice of Pokémon Thanatos decided on.

"You sure about that, man?" Bob said in an undermining tone to his opponent. "You can still change your Pokémon, I'll give you time." He shrugged to show his confidence. Thanatos just stood there, wordless. "Well then, I guess it's time to start the match! Don't hold back, Golem. Earthquake!"

The ground started shaking, along with the whole building, and the surface of the arena started to split apart in many pieces. Soon, the little Pikachu could not be seen anymore, covered with boulders that were hurled from the ground-type move.

"Hahahaha! How's that?" Bob said with excitement. He scanned the arena, only to see the Pikachu standing on his tail, unscathed. "What..? How's that possible? Golem, Rollout!" The Rock Pokémon starting rolling on one place in a high speed, then launched forward like torpedo to Pikachu.

"... Dodge it." Thanatos ordered.

The Pikachu jumped up to evade the opponent, but the Golem followed Pikachu by launching itself to the air also.

"You can't escape Golem's Rollout!" Bob explained shortly. Paying no attention to Bob's remarks, Thanatos proceeded to give Pikachu another order. "Make him go back to the ground, Pikachu."

With Golem approaching, Pikachu did a summersault to hit the rock Pokémon with his tail. The electric Pokémon's tail connected, sending the opponent down to the ground in a high speed, creating a crater on the ground, making the rock Pokémon spin continuously in the crater.

"Wow! That's one strong tail! That Pikachu didn't even use Iron Tail!" Brock commented in amazement.

"Hit it one more time." Thanatos said to Pikachu. The Pikachu, still mid-air, positioned himself so he can fall down in a comfortable stance. He did two summersaults this time, hitting the opponent with a much greater force with the addition of the fall speed. The crater got even bigger, and a cloud of dust emerged from the impact.

"Urk!" Bob quickly covered his eyes with his arms and waited for the dust to calm down.

Once the field is clear, Pikachu was seen standing over the unconscious Golem.

"Golem is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner!" the referee shouted.

"No way!" Bob said to his disbelief. "Golem, return! It's your turn, Nidoking!" said Bob as he switched his Pokémon, revealing his second one. "Horn Drill!"

"... This is boring. Let's end this, Pikachu. Thunderbolt." Said the young trainer to his partner, much to the surprise of the spectators.

"That won't have any effect at all, is he nuts?" Max commented.

"Pika... chuuu!" The yellow mouse released a ridiculous amount of electricity from his body, which can easily power ten units of intensive care machineries in a Pokémon Center. The whole arena flashed yellow, forcing the spectators to cover their eyes due to the sheer brightness of the Thunderbolt attack. Then an explosion was be heard somewhere in the fighting arena. The surge of electricity filled the whole arena, forcing the power current to overload, making the lightings and power in the whole building to go out.

With the whole arena dark, people were starting to open their eyes and tried to see what the result of the attack was. They could not see anything, only sparks of yellow from the aftermath of the Thunderbolt attack.

The arena was voiceless for a few minutes, before noises started to come from above.

The lights were starting to come back on, above the arena, the ones which are not broken. All four of them.

The square arena was lighted dimly.

Bob was kneeling, rubbing his eyes, still thinking about what happened.

Thanatos could be seen on the other side of the arena, with his Pikachu on his shoulder, looking at the Nidoking who now had swirls on its eyes.

"Ah.. Aah.. Nidoking is unable to.. Battle.. Thanatos and his Pikachu win the match.." the referee said while raising the red flag, sitting against the wall, his knees still shaking.

Thanatos quickly walked out the hall.

"... You know, that Bob guy was strong.. His Pokémon weren't weak at all. But that Thanatos made him look like a trainer just starting out on his journey!" Brock commented, breaking the silence. "The last time I saw a Thunderbolt that strong was when a Pikachu was badly overcharged. This one released that like it was an hourly routine!"

"That was completely unexpected coming from someone who was recommended by an unknown person." Max added, where everyone nodded in agreement.

* * *

**11:10 AM  
Indigo Plateau  
Cafe de Fedde**

"Well, that was too easy." Ash said while taking a sip of tea from his cup after finishing his brunch. "Pika!" his Pikachu stated in agreement while eating ketchup again. "I told you to go easy on the ketchup, pal." Said the young trainer while taking the ketchup away from his Pikachu. The little mouse quickly chased the bottle while crying anime tears. "Alright, you win, as always. Here ya' go, buddy." He gave his partner back his ketchup, while smiling at the Pokémon's behaviour. "We should get going soon, we need to rendezvous with Cynthia to get information on the Galactic posts around the city. She should be finished about half of them right about now. I guess we should join her."

He stood up, paid the bill, and went out of the cafe.

"If she went by my map, she should be here soon." The young man leaned on a wall in an alleyway, starting to wait for the Sinnoh Champion. "We should finish things soon, I think. I've got that meeting where all the First round winners have to gather." He put his hands in his pockets, where he felt something. He grabbed the object and pulled it out of the left pocket. It was a chocolate coin. He quickly glanced at Pikachu, who did the same thing as his trainer. Both stretched out their right hand, showing a fist.

"Rocks, papers, Scissors!" said the young man with auburn coloured eyes with his Pikachu. Ash held his palm out, all five fingers pointed out. Pikachu showed a 'peace' sign.

"Why do I always lose..." complained Ash with a sigh, looking at his happy Pikachu eating the chocolate. He then tied his shoulder length hair into his usual ponytail again. "Can't see with my hair like this."

A female figure entered the alleyway. She had silver eyes, and was wearing all black attire. She had unusual hair clips on. Spotting the young man, she stopped for a second, and approached him.

"You were waiting for me?" She asked.

"What, not surprised to see me anymore, Cynthia?" the young man replied. He got off the leaning position, and faced her. "Not surprised to see you alive anymore, but still surprised to see you popping in the strangest places." Said the Sinnoh Champion. "That's too bad. I love your out-of-the-usual expressions. They're cute." Hearing this, Cynthia's cheeks turned red for a short while, but turned around to hide it. "W-Well, you're not going to be seeing them anymore." Ash tried to move in front of her to get a good look of her face, but she went ahead and moved to the fifth Galactic post to be investigated. "Oh come on, not even a little 'look-see'?" he asked playfully. "No!" she said as she was leaving him behind.

Ash smiled and sighed at the situation, and followed her. "_Looks like you're not nervous around her anymore?" _Pikachu said telepathically, out of the blue.

"_Not now, man!" _Ash quickly replied in the same channel.

* * *

Another young man was watching the last scene in the alleyway, confused. He was with a woman with blue, shoulder length hair and green eyes.

He had spiky brown hair, black eyes, and was wearing a pendant. _"That's... Sinnoh's champion. What's she doing here? And that guy in the ponytail seems familiar..."_ He quickly followed after them into the alleyway, into a small and empty cafe. "Let's go, Serena." Said the young man, signalling the woman.

* * *

"This cafe is pretty well kept for such a small and hidden place." Ash commented when they walked into the place. "For two, please." He said to the waiter. "This way please." They were led to their table by a male waiter, who was about to hand them the menu. He was quickly pushed away from the table by a female waiter who quickly handed out the menu instead of her colleague. While doing this, she seemed to pay extra attention to the young man with the auburn eyes. "I'll just have tea. Chrysanthemum tea." Cynthia ordered, followed by Ash who ordered the same thing. Cynthia was sitting with across Ash, with Ash having the vision of the door. He took off his right glove and placed his hand in his coat pocket.

Soon, he saw a couple enter the door.

"For two, sir." The young man said to the waiter, who was fixing his clothes. "Right this way, sir." While being led to the table, he looked at the person with the Pikachu, and he ended up sitting in a table next to him.

Ash quickly recognized the man and cursed a certain legendary Pokémon. He reached for his hair and released his ponytail. He sighed in relief when the man turned the other way.

"So..." Cynthia started speaking, opening the conversation.

"_Don't say my name, don't say my name, don't say my name..."_ prayed the young man.

"Ash, when are you going to tell me what happened?" the champion continued.

"..._ Sheeiiit."_

The other table heard Cynthia say his name, and the young man turned around quickly to make sure. "Ash? Ash Ketchum? Is that really you, Ash?"

"*Cough* N-No, sorry, I think you've got the wrong person. My name is Thanatos, you see."Ash answered nervously. "Oh, sorry, but I clearly heard her say Ash. I had a late friend who was called Ash, but I still can't accept what happened, you know, the usual. Is there any reason why she would call you Ash?" the spiky haired man asked a second time to cover up for his mistake. He looked at the Sinnoh Champion and saw her looking at the window, calmly drinking her tea. "... Thanatos is his business name. His real name is Ash Ketchum all right." Said the blonde woman while sipping her tea again.

"What was that for?" Ash asked Cynthia with a confused face. "For leaving me behind yesterday." She answered with an angry look. "But I had a legitimate excuse yesterday! You know what happened." "Well, then it's for teasing me just now." She took a sip from her tea again. "This isn't over, I'll get you back." Said the young trainer with the Pikachu.

"So I was right... It's really you! I knew something was off when we couldn't find your remains! Why are you here? Are you here to win the conference? No, more importantly, how are you here?" the other person said excitedly. Then he looked at the Pikachu. "Pikachu! How are you, little fella'? Still on the ketchup, eh?"

"The questions will have to wait, Gary. I've got something to do, just a little. And don't tell anyone about this. I mean _anyone_." Ash quickly stood up and walked in the direction of the two waiters near the bar, patting Cynthia's head on the way and placing Pikachu on her shoulder. She blushed at the gesture, and tried to cover it again by drinking her Chrysanthemum tea. Gary watched this scene, again, with confusion.

Ash got close to the two waiters who were chatting while standing by to get the finished orders to the customers, and striked them both on the neck, knocking them out. He caught the two unconscious personnel, and laid them both on the floor. He was now leaning on the bar, looking at the bartender who missed the whole scene because he was preoccupied with something. "Hey, Master, who're you trying to call? Going to report about what you heard just now?" The bartender quickly turned around and stopped dialling. "N-no, I was just about to call my bo- I mean, wife..." "Oh really?" Ash leaped over the bar, landing next to the bartender. He got into his fighting stance, and got ready for a punch. A _normal_ punch. "N-No, wai-" He launched his left fist forward, connecting it with the bartender's stomach. The man was launched into the wall behind him. He leaped out of the bar. _"He won't be waking up for 2 weeks, at least." _thought the young man.

"It seems this place is only for gathering information and undercover meetings. Now that's over with, let's get on with the explanations." He walked back to the tables to find his group having no words to say after what happened. Cynthia opened the conversation.

"I... I know you were strong, but..." She stopped mid-sentence.

"Didn't you overdo it a little?" Gary asked him with a frightened face.

"The bartender? No, no. He was wearing the standard Galactic protective shirt." Ash answered him with a straight face. "Standard Galactic Shirt...?"

"Not important. Now, what were we talking about?" he replied while tying his hair into a ponytail yet again.

"Okay." The young man with the spiky brown hair said. "First things first. This is Serena, from Bomba Island in Hoenn." Gary introduced the woman with the blue, shoulder-length hair with green eyes. She used to be a teacher in judging Pokémon Battles. "Nice to meet you all." Serena bowed her head. Ash and Cynthia did the same. "Yes, I remember you, we met back when I was still traveling in Hoenn, just before I went to Mosdeep city. Your student, Jimmy, judged my match with Brock, if I remember correctly." Ash commented on his earlier meeting with Serena. "So, you quit teaching?" "Well, yes. I became interested in the field of Fossil Research, and I met Gary while travelling to gather information. It was certainly hard to leave the school though, I became quite attached to it." Serena explained. "I have been travelling with Gary since, and now we came here on an errand."

"Before we get to the main topic, can I ask you guys something?" Gary interrupted, while looking at the yellow mouse on Cynthia's shoulder, happily resting while eating his ketchup. "Are you two... dating?"

Cynthia choked a little on her tea hearing this statement, and tried to regain her composure. "W-Well, we just met again a couple of days ago, and have certainly caught up a bit with each other, b-but, d-dating is..." Her face glowed red when she tried to explain. Ash, who was now sitting, took quick notice of this and smiled. He put his arm around Cynthia, and pulled her closer to him and said, "Yes, we're dating." with a big grin on his face. "Pika!" His Pikachu said while holding a thumb-up at his statement. Cynthia, at a loss for words, just nodded along while drinking more tea to hide her smile.

"I.. I see." Gary answered, still looking confused. "Okay then. Let's move on to the main topic. How did you survive that incident?"

Ash gulped his tea quickly before he started his explanation. "Okay, I'm going to skip the part where I fall down the bottomless pit like a certain popular internet meme." He refilled his tea, and continued.

"Jumping to the part where I regain consciousness. I was in a laboratory. I saw an old man with a thick beard. He sure was scary." He took another sip from his cup. "I looked over to my right hand, I thought something was strange. I thought I had lost my arm from the incident, but I felt that I was moving my hand, like normal. Once my vision cleared, I saw that I had a metallic arm. Then, the nice scary old man explained where I was and that he found me and brought me to his laboratory. And that's how I survived the time after I endured the fall. How I stayed alive after the fall, however, is a different story, which I will tell you sometime later, but she gets to hear it first." Again, Ash patted Cynthia's head. "But I believe we have something to do now, right, Cynthia?" Ash stood once more, offering a hand to Cynthia, which she accepted.

"Wait a minute, Ashy boy. Before you go, I believe we should have a little contest first. It _has_ been four years." Said his former rival, stopping him. Ash smiled at his friend.

"Okay. But you'll lose, though." Ash commented confidently. "We'll see about that. Let's go find a battlefield. Let's go, Serena." Both Gary and Serena exited the little cafe first, and started to look for an appropriate field.

Ash and Cynthia, who were still holding hands, started to head for the exit too, before Ash suddenly stopped.

"So, now we're dating right?" asked the young man.

"Of course, you idiot." Answered the blonde trainer while pulling him to the exit, still with the Pikachu on her shoulder.

* * *

**Not long enough, but had to cut it here.**

**That's about it for this chapter, the next one will start with Ash vs. Gary!**

**Serena isn't an OC btw.**

**And Cynthia is a tsundere!**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll be back next week with some more!**


	7. An Incident

**Hello, good people that are reading this right now. I'm back with another chapter!**

**How am I? I have this Jamie Cullum song whose title I don't know and can't find in the web, so I'm frustrated! And 'K-ON!' is on TV right now. The English-dub is terrible, and I can't get over the Yuri atmosphere -_- **** And to add to the frustration, my Nurarihyon No Mago torrent still has 1 hour left.**

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter while I look for that song again.**

**

* * *

**

**Evenio**

**11:30 AM  
Indigo Plateau  
Practice Field**

"Well, here we are." The young man with the spiky brown hair said while stopping. Standing beside him was a blue haired girl with green eyes. "Ready?" He turned around to see the other young trainer trying to keep his Pikachu from getting his bottle of ketchup. "Hey! Do you even want to battle?"

The other person and his Pikachu stopped their friendly fight, turning to him. "Oh, of course! But I need to get Pikachu off the ketchup; he's going to get a stomach ache from all the ketchup." Said the young man while holding his partner Pokémon by the neck. "Pika!" his Pokémon protested. "Later. Now, let's get this started, Gary." He walked to the blue end of the field.

A man wearing a green shirt came out from a gate under the spectators seats. Noticing this, Gary walked up to him and requested him to judge the match, where the man agreed. Then Gary walked to the red end of the field, approaching the blue haired woman. "Can you hold this for me?" said Gary while handing her his sunglasses that was placed on his head. She nodded, and headed to where a blonde woman was sitting, above the gate that the referee came out from. "So who do you think will win, Cynthia?" she asked the blonde trainer. "I honestly don't know. The last time I saw Ash battled was four years ago, and he didn't even stand a chance against me... And Gary Oak is known to be a great trainer, despite his occupation as a Pokémon Researcher. If I battled him, it would be quite a challenge and fight." answered Cynthia. "I see. So we just have to wait and see, I guess?" "It seems so."

The practice field were starting to be filled with spectators who saw the Sinnoh Champion going in. Once inside, they found out that Gary Oak was battling an unknown trainer. Soon, the practice arena was filled.

Murmurs can be heard throughout the arena where people were talking about the unknown trainer who is brave enough to go against Gary.

Both trainers were looking confident, especially after their visit to the Pokémon Center for Gary to change his party while Ash had disappeared somewhere for a few minutes.

"You know?" Gary started a conversation with Ash from across the field. "My party is the exact same team that I had during the Silver Conference when we battled. And we're going to win this easily." Said the researcher with a big grin on his face. "Funny." Ash commented. " I broke my 'one Pokémon' rule for the competition, so I'm in a similar situation."

The referee stood on his usual spot, and announced the match. "This match between Gary Oak and..."

"Thanatos." Ash completed the referee's sentence.

More murmurs were heard from the seats when people heard the strange name.

"This match between Gary Oak and Thanatos will be a three on three practice match! One side will be declared the victor when either side's Pokémon are unable to battle! Begin!" the referee raised both his flags to signal the start of the match.

"Three on three, huh? Well, this should be quick. Nidoqueen, go!" said the trainer in the red corner while throwing a PokeBall. It released the dual type Poison/Ground Pokémon.

"This is for your loss in the Silver Conference, Tauros." Ash threw a similar ball, revealing the normal typed Pokémon.

"Nidoqueen, get close for a Mega Punch!" Gary said while pointing his forefinger.

The Nidoqueen started running towards the horned Pokémon with her hand shining white.

Ash observed the unusual speed and agility of the last evolution of the female Nidoran.

In a split second, the Nidoqueen got in range and launched her fist forward for a Mega Punch. With Ash not saying anything, the Tauros took the hit head on. The fist connected.

Gary's eyes widened at the sight of the Tauros that withstood the power of the attack. "Well, isn't that something..."

"Tauros, lock her arm between your horns." Ash ordered. The Tauros nodded and did exactly like his trainer instructed him to. Tauros moved his head in a circular manner and locked the Nidoqueen's arm. "Now, lift her into the air."

Tauros started to run forward, pushing his opponent backwards while gaining more speed. A second later, Tauros lowered his head, and lifted it again in a much greater speed to which Nidoqueen tried to resist, but failed. Gary's Pokémon was now being thrown upwards. "Nidoqueen!" Gary shouted. "Tauros, use Horn Attack when she falls." Ash gave out another move for his Pokémon. Gary smirked at this, and gave his order. "Nidoqueen, Hyper Beam!" In less than a second, she had fired the Hyper Beam. An explosion occurred and a cloud of dust emerged as Nidoqueen landed safely on her feet, giving a small and short tremor.

After a short while, the cloud began to disperse. Nidoqueen could be seen standing firm in the midst of the dust, however, there was no trace of Tauros still standing. Gary smiled at this sight. "Well? Just like the old times!"

"You sure?" Ash replied. "Do it, Tauros."

A shadow that resembled Tauros was now visible in the disappearing cloud of dust, running at full speed and ramming Nidoqueen's back with his horns. Not expecting the attack, the dual type Pokémon got launched from the attack, hitting the walls of the field. The referee ran up to the Pokémon to check its conditions.

"Nidoqueen is unable to battle! Tauros is the winner!"

"N-No way... Nidoqueen was taken down with one attack!" Gary said in disbelief.

The crowd gasped at the unexpected turn of events, where Gary Oak's Pokémon was taken down very easily by a no-name trainer.

"Tsch. Not bad." Gary clicked his tongue while returning his Nidoqueen. He took another PokeBall and threw it to the field. It released a big blue turtle with two cannons on its back. "Go for it, Blastoise."

Ash quickly returned his Tauros and he spoke to the PokeBall in what seemed to be a thank you for the battle. He took another PokeBall as well and did the same gesture as Gary. He chose the last evolution line of the fire counterpart of the Kanto starters. "Let's make it an epic fight, Charizard." Ash said to the orange lizard. "You're not allowed to fly." The lizard nodded and showed a thumb up, showing his approval at his trainer's challenge.

"Blastoise, Hydro Cannon!" shouted the trainer in the red corner.

"Flamethrower, full power."

* * *

**11.30 AM  
Unidentified Galactic Base  
10.00%**

"How goes the progress?" asked a man with spiky blue hair, wearing a familiar outfit with a 'G' imprint on his chest.

"It went a little bit faster after it hit the five percent mark, Cyrus, sir!" answered his underling with a salute. He had #27 written on his back. "And now that we have got Celebi, it should go faster, it might even go at triple the previous rate!" added the young man next to him, this one with #3 written on the back of his uniform.

"Very good. Make sure the Pokémon needed the complete the objective are safely secured." Cyrus ordered. "How about the progress on the Grand Conference? Any notable trainers yet?" He stood up from his chair, and went in front of his desk in a military commander style.

"There are a lot of strong trainers, just like we expected, but this is still the preliminaries, sir. So we are waiting for a little bit longer, to see who will really pass our qualifications." An old thick-bearded man entered the room, interrupting the two goons who were about to answer the question. "Although we can save the trouble if we just go for the champions." He added.

"That won't do, Dr. Raito." Cyrus calmly replied while going back to his seat. "Those people have already experienced victories in either a regional league or the Grand Conference, so they at least know how things work in these tournaments. If we do anything suspicious, they _will_ notice. So we need somebody new."

"And I'm saying we just force them with the new hypnotism device the organization finished not too long ago. Saves us a lot of time and trouble." Dr. Raito suggested.

"That will only happen if one of the champions wins the conference. I'd like to do things smoothly, if possible. I don't like any surprises from the machines, they tend to be faulty at critical times. With newly crowned ones, they are mostly oblivious, or I hope they are." Cyrus took a sheet of paper from a pile marked 'Financial Proposals' and started to work on it. "So, what do you think of our candidates?"

The older man walked over to a sofa and sat on it. "Well, for Jupiter, I don't think he will be seeing the finals. For your last minute addition, Saturn, I do think she is more capable, but still not enough to get to the finals, probably only up to the top sixty-four. The trainers in the conference are very strong, and I've noted many who show potential. Organized by regions." Said the Doctor, who stood up and gave his Boss his research results.

Cyrus accepted the papers, and started scrolling through them, reading in his head.

"_**Johto**._

_Champion Lance*, E.F Karen, E.F Bruno, E.F Koga*, E.F Will._

_G.L Clair, G.L Pryce, G.L Morty._

_Trainer Lyra, Trainer Silver*, Trainer Ethan._

_**Sinnoh**._

_Champion Cynthia, E.F Lucian, E.F Flint, E.F Bertha._

_G.L Fantina, G.L Volkner, G.L Candice._

_Frontier Brain Palmer, Frontier Brain Dahlia._

_Trainer Barry, Coordinator Dawn, Trainer Lucas, Trainer Paul*._

_**Hoenn**._

_Champion Wallace, E.F Phoebe, E.F Sidney, E.F Glacia._

_Steven Stone._

_G.L Juan, Liza & Tate, G.L Winona, G.L Norman, G.L Flannery._

_Trainer Brendan, Coordinator May, Trainer Harrison, Coordinator Drew*, Coordinator Harley*, Trainer Max._

_Frontier Brain Anabel, Frontier Brain Brandon*, Frontier Brain Tucker**, Frontier Brain Lucy._

_**Kanto**._

_Gary Oak._

_Champion Red*, E.F Lorelei, E.F Agatha._

_G.L Sabrina, G.L Blaine, G.L Brock, G.L Misty, G.L Erika, G.L Janine._

_Trainer Ritchie, Coordinator Solidad._

_-"_

"Steven Stone. Why is he without title? I know Gary Oak is a researcher." Cyrus asked.

"Well, he is a stones enthusiast. I wasn't sure what title to put." Dr. Raito simply answered. "He's strong alright. He was in a match against Cynthia where the battle ended in a draw."

"I see. And why is there only a few from Kanto? Setting aside the Elite Fours being shared, that is. And you might want to explain the asterisks next to a couple of the names too." The blue haired man raised another question.

"The asterisk indicates that even though those specific trainers are strong, they might not be able to finish the required task because of their personalities. As for the Kanto list, well, that is still temporary, and I'll keep updating the list. However, the trainers on the Kanto list are very strong, very formidable trainers. Gary Oak engaged Steven Stone in a battle once, and lost when they were both down to their last Pokémon. As a matter of fact, I think Gary Oak is battling someone right now, in a practice battle." Explained Dr. Raito. "By the way, the double asterisks mean that they have a terrible sense of fashion."

#3 picked up a remote control and pressed power. A 60 inches flat-screen Television turned on. He scanned a few channels before stopping on channel fifteen. It showed a match where a man identified to be Gary Oak, in the red corner, was battling against a no-name trainer in the blue corner. The stadium is filled with spectators, hoping to attain enlightenment on the researcher's excellent battle skills. The screen showed one of Gary Oak's Pokémon , Nidoqueen, is down, while 2 out of the three revealed Pokémon of the opponent are still fine.

Currently, Gary's Blastoise was fighting it out against a Charizard.

"They've been battling it out for more than 15 minutes now. They're on equal powers. Every attack they launched was cancelled by the other Pokémon." #3 commented.

"Yeah, it seems so. That Blastoise is strong alright. Its attacks aren't normal, they're both powerful and quick." Added #27.

"But something seems off here. Charizard has been dodging and matching up the Blastoise's attacks without flying at all, and it looks completely fine!" #3 remarked.

Hearing this, Cyrus got up from his seat to see the match. He noticed the participants, and then he saw the Sinnoh Champion in the seats. He proceeded to look at Gary Oak, who looked exhausted, just like his Blastoise.

The Blastoise withdrew in his shell and spun, showing his Rapid Spin attack. Charizard didn't move, catching the gigantic turtle in his arms. He roasted the turtle with a Fire Spin before bringing it to the sky quickly, performing a Seismic Toss attack. Launching downwards with great speed, the Charizard released the turtle. When his opponent made contact with the ground, the orange lizard added an extra Dragonbreath to deal more damage. To everyone's surprise, the Blastoise stood up again before the referee could decide that it was over.

The water type tried to do another Hydro Cannon, but missed.

* * *

**Indigo Plateau  
Practice Field**

"Darn it!" Gary cursed. "If only the attack could hit!"

Hearing this, Thanatos got ready for a reply. "Your Blastoise is strong, Mr. Oak. _Very _strong. It was a little bit beyond my expectations. However, Blastoise only have a limited set of times of which he can use his attacks, PP, in short. Once he uses it up, exhaustion awaits, which seems like the case this time. Unlike mine, who have a nearly unlimited set of times."

Gary, not understanding fully, shot back a question. "Unlimited? What do you mean?"

"Your Blastoise can only use a certain amount of water and attacks before it exhaust himself. Now, unlike others, you have trained your Pokémon exceptionally. If I have to do an analogy, Most Blastoise's water source would be as large as one of the three lakes in the Sinnoh region. Your Blastoise, however, have a source as large as all the three lakes combined, from what I can see." He paused for a second, before continuing his explanation.

"What about my Charizard, you ask? His would be as much as an... _**ocean **_of _lava. _What three small bodies of water can do to an ocean of fire? Practically nothing."

Hearing this, many of the crowd started to shout in disagreement. "He's bluffing! He's not sane, just kick his butt, Oak!"

With one started, the others quickly joined. "Yeah! Just take him down!"

"Shut him up!"

"What a cocky person!"

"He's nothing much!"

Looking at the outraged crowd, Thanatos turned to Gary. "Would you like to at least comply to the wants of the people?"

Gary got hot-headed at his friend's explanation and ordered his Blastoise to do his most powerful move without even being asked. "I'll prove you wrong! Blastoise, Hydro Cannon, full power!"

The Blastoise aimed its two cannons at the fire counterpart, and shot two huge, high speed water cannons.

"Take it head-on, Charizard." Thanatos ordered.

Charizard stood there while the Hydro Cannon is heading to him. He stepped forward a step. Once the attack connected to his body, the water evaporated in an instant.

The attack kept on coming, however, to no avail, getting turned into steam by the millisecond.

The arena quickly turned hot like a small sauna.

The Blastoise was running out of gas, and kneeled over in exhaustion.

Many of the people watching rubbed their eyes to see more clearly. All of their attention was glued to the source of the steam.

Charizard stood tall, unscathed and not even a single drop of water was on his body. The flame on his tail was burning crazily.

On the other side, Blastoise, who had been gasping for air because of his exhaustion, started gasped even more violently before dropping. The referee came over to look at the Pokémon, and declared Charizard's win. "Blastoise is unable to battle! Charizard is the winner!"

The crowd started speaking to each other. "... He wasn't bluffing after all, that strong Blastoise fainted out of exhaustion..." "... That Charizard doesn't even show the slightest bit of fatigue..." "...He's strong..." "... Damn strong..."

The Sinnoh Champion was speechless, not knowing what to say at what she saw.

"Now, Mr. Oak, please choose your third Pokémon." Said the referee while wiping his sweat of his face.

"I forfeit."

"Pardon?"

"I forfeit the match. He's clearly far stronger than me. I can't measure how strong he is." Gary said, while returning Blastoise to his PokeBall.

"Very well then. The winner of this match is Thanatos!"

The crowd was silent at Gary Oak's judgement, who they thought was very strong. Serena, who had been sitting beside Cynthia, started clapping. Soon, people followed, and shortly after the whole arena was filled with thunderous claps and cheers.

"You did awesome, Gary!"

"You're damn strong, you with the Pikachu!"

"That was an awesome battle!"

Thanatos looked at this sight and gave a happy sigh and a shrug. Just a minute ago they were calling him cocky. He went over to the Red side of the arena, and offered Gary a handshake, which the latter gladly accepted. While shaking his hand, Gary noticed Thanatos had something in his hand and left it with Gary. While walking away, Thanatos' Pikachu waved to say goodbye.

* * *

**12:00 PM  
Unidentified Galactic Base**

"That is your candidate, correct?" Cyrus said to Dr. Raito.

"Yes. His name is Thanatos." The older man replied.

"Good. He's strong, and loyal. I like that." The leader praised. "He's playful though." Dr. Raito added.

#3, who went out to check on the legendary time-travelling Pokémon came back in to the room with worried face.

"What's wrong?" Cyrus inquired.

"Uh, Sir? I've been wondering... Celebi has been repeatedly glowing green from when we caught it." The underling answered while pointing to the room where the Pokémon was held. "Are you sure that's normal?" Cyrus went ahead to the room where Celebi was kept, and saw that the Pokémon glowed green over a set of intervals. "I remember Mars, Jupiter and Saturn saying something similar about the Lake Trios. Do you make something of this, Dr. Raito?"

"I'll look into it, sir. Currently, I think it is practically harmless, though I'm not sure about later on. I'll get back to you as soon as I possibly could." Having said that, Dr. Raito went over to the control panel and printed some of Celebi's data. After that, he gave a slight nod to Cyrus and left the room.

Once out of the room, he headed to the staff elevator. After waiting for a short bit, the elevator arrived and the Doctor went, sighing deeply. "I think I have an idea who got their powers." The elevator arrived, and he exited while whistling an old tune.

* * *

**12:00 PM  
Outside of Practice Field**

"Well, isn't this something?" Ash said when he got out of the practice field.

People were gathering around the Sinnoh Champion to ask for autographs, advices and many more. Cynthia looked troubled at the stampede of people that was crowding her. Ash brainstormed for a bit on how to get her out of the mess, and came up with an idea. He took Pikachu, who was on his head, and told it to use Flash. Ash covered his eyes, while most of the people there are blinded by the move. When they were trying to recover their visions, Ash grabbed Cynthia and ran for it, despite Cynthia's small protests.

Once far enough, Ash set the blonde woman down. "How was the trip?" he asked with a bright smile. Cynthia, who was still rubbing her eyes, protested. "Do you _have_ to do it like that? Can't you do it in a more... I don't know, _normal_ way?" "Normal? That word's not in my dictionary." He said with a big grin. He took Pikachu off his head, and placed it on Cynthia's head again. "He looks good there. Matches your hair. Good combination!" He commented. "Pika!" Pikachu agreed with his trainer, nodding along. "Well, let's go, shall we? I want to finish this before dark, so we can talk some more about non-Galactic stuff."

* * *

Gary opened the door to his hotel room, and placed his bad on top of his bed. He reached for his pocket and took out the piece of paper Ash had slipped him when they finished their battle. He opened the folds, and read it.

_Meet me in Cafe Le Grand at 10 tonight._

_-Ash_

_I guess it's got something to do with more explaining. _He thought. Gary went over to the desk and took out his laptop, writing his observation for the day about the village.

Once they were done with the inspection, it was already going to be dark in a few minutes, and Cynthia had to go sort some business with the Grand Conference committee. Also, Ash had to go to the meeting for the first round winners. They parted ways after exchanging PokeNav numbers.

* * *

**9:45 PM  
Charleston Hotel  
Lobby**

After going through a very boring one and a half hour of speech and instructions, Ash stretched his back and groaned. "Whaaaaaaaat a boring lecture." He exited the hotel, and headed to the meeting place he mention to Gary in the message earlier. He had told Cynthia to come too, so he can set things straight in one go. Pikachu was sleeping on his head because of the lecturer's soothing voice.

In less than 5 minutes, he had gotten to the Cafe. It was the Cafe where he met Gary this afternoon, the one where he knocked the employees. He went inside the Cafe, closing the door a bit too hard, waking Pikachu up. "Pika Pika..." the yellow Pokémon complained while getting up. "Sorry, buddy." The young trainer apologized while petting his Pikachu on the head, who seemed to like it.

He saw that the three workers are still out from the incident earlier today. "Man, don't this Cafe get customers?" He said while trying to make things tidier. "Hey, Mr. Bartender, wake up." He slapped the bartender in the face, but the bearded man still stayed out cold. Just then, another pain struck his head.

"Ugh!" He groaned, while holding his head. "Pika?"

"Don't worry Pikachu, it's just those dizzy spells I've been having for the past week." Replied the young man. Still kneeling, he tried to get up by using the wall as a support. He hit his hand on the wall accidentally, and it produced a hollow sound.

"Hmm?" He knocked the wall to make sure, and it produced the same sound. "This part of the wall is hollow." He punched the wall, breaking it. He checked out the hole he made. In the hole, he saw a plastic container. He took it out, and saw that inside was an old key.

He opened the container and grabbed the object.

When he touched it, the dizzy spell got worse, enough to make one faint.

"Urgh!" he groaned again, dropping the key and the container.

Ash's eyes became hazy and he lost his balance, falling to his knees. When he did, he could not see anymore. "My... My vision!" He shouted while rubbing his eyes.

Not being able to see anything but darkness, Ash panicked. Suddenly, there was a white beam that separated the darkness into two parts horizontally, and now he could see nothing but light. He fainted afterwards.

* * *

_Ash realized that he was standing, in the same spot where he had picked up the old key. However, the wall was still intact. His body felt light, as light as a feather. He looked around the Cafe, and he noticed a few differences. The furniture looked new, and there were a lot of people there. Confused, Ash went to the receptionist to ask how and when all these people get here so quickly. "Hello, I was here just now and it was empty. Now, it's full with customers. May I ask what time it is?"_

_The receptionist ignored him and continued playing solitaire on the computer. "Hello?" he waved his hand in front of the other man's face. Again, ignored._

_Slightly annoyed, Ash went on and tried to pat the guy on the shoulder, only to have his hand go through the man's body. Ash fell, and his eyes widened in surprise. He noticed that his Pikachu was absent the whole time._

"_What the heck? It's like... I don't exist here at all. And where's Pikachu?" He got up, and noticed a newspaper on the bar._

_He walked over to check the newspaper. "Hey, this paper's from 20 years ago, who put this here?" Ignoring it, he turned to see two people reading the paper. He walked over to see the paper to see the same date._

_He quickly looked around the room again, to see the clothes the people wore._

_An epiphany._

"_This is... 20 years ago?" he shouted out loud, where no one even flinched at his loud voice._

_

* * *

_

**Done! Hope you like this chapter.**

**I finally finished the downloads. The song, you ask? Nope, nothing. _Curses!_**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed this one, and please review!**


	8. Deceit

**Ciao! Hope all of you are doing well. I just got back from vacatiooooooon, where my cousin forced me to stay up a lot, playing cards (We played this game called Signal, it was really fun).**

**Now, for a part I always forget (I'll be adding these to all the chapters... I think.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon in any way, or the hard-boiled character of the Looker.**

**It hasn't been that long, has it? *Looks at Calendar* Oh, shi-**

* * *

**..**

**Dolus  
==**

"_This is... 20 years ago? But how did I get here?" Ash said while looking dumbfounded at his realization. He walked to the bar, not knowing what to do._

_Not being tangible, he had problems placing himself in the room._

"_So, what did you find in your latest expedition? The one to Fogbound Lake?" a man said to his friend, who was sitting beside him at the bar. "It was amazing. The fogged lake and swamps were beautiful." His friend answered while sipping his cognac._

"_Did you find what you were looking for? That gear thing?" the man turned to his friend while making out a circular object with his hand. "The Time Gear? No. And I don't think I should be messing with it, to be honest. After my research results, I think I'm not brave enough to actually snatch one. I'm afraid if I take the gear out of its place, the time in that region will completely stop, although I'm not sure. Besides, the scenery was worth the trip there." The second man explained. "Better safe than sorry."_

_Overhearing the conversation, Ash stood beside them the whole time._

"_Right, so you're not going on any expeditions again?" the first male raised another question. "Not for a while, I'll be stuck managing this cafe for some time. Probably continuing my research at the back, like usual." Said the other man while pointing to a door beside the bar with a "Staff Only" sign._

"_Time Gears?"Ash thought inwardly. Just then, another dizzy spell attacked and the young man blacked out again._

* * *

**10:05 PM  
Indigo Plateau  
Cafe Le Grand**

"Pikapi!" A Pikachu cried when he saw his trainer is gaining consciousness.

Having fainted for nearly fifteen minutes, Ash tried to open his eyes. When he came to, his vision returned. After a few seconds of readjusting, he saw that he was still in the cafe. In front of him was the key that he found before he saw the strange vision. Curious, he picked it up again.

Nothing happened.

Being the curious man that he is, he inspected the key one more time. He stood up and approached the door in the back beside the bar. After trying to open the door a couple of times with no avail, he attempted to unlock the door with the key he randomly found buried in the wall. He inserted the old key and turned it clockwise to hear an unlocking noise from the door's lock. Content with he had done, he opened the door while smiling to himself, impressed at his luck. Ash went inside the room after telling Pikachu to stand by outside.

There he saw the room was filled with papers all over the place, like the property was ransacked before it was closed off. Being once again curious, Ash looked at some of the papers, who he classified as reports after looking at the outline.

"_Treeshroud Forest"_

"_Limestone Cavern"_

"_Underground Cave"_

"_Crystal Lake"_

Nothing piqued his interest in those papers, as he read he found that those papers are just mere speculations of what could have been there. Ash skimmed over the papers quickly, not knowing that he was missing important parts of the papers. Then he saw another set of files, this one being in front of the work seat.

"_Fogbound Lake"_

Ash remembered the vision he had when he fainted, and quickly walked over to grab the papers. He found himself looking at the table of contents. _Introduction, Location, Surroundings, Necessities, Guardian, Time Gear_. He raised an eyebrow at the last entry, and flipped over to that specific section to check to details. "This is..."

"Pika Pika!" His little yellow mouse cried from the main room.

"Yeah, be right there, buddy!" Ash said. "_It doesn't seem like there's anybody here anymore. Guess me taking these papers will do no harm. I'll place it back here later."_He thought to himself. He gathered up all the papers and folded all of it in half, placing it in his pocket. He exited the room and closed the door behind him, locking it with old key.

Not long after, Gary entered the scene.

"So, what's up with all the secrecy?" he asked while walking up to the three unconscious employees. "Wow, you really gave these guys the beating of their lives." Said the young researcher while looking at work that his rival had done this afternoon. He looked over to Ash who had just taken a seat on one of the stools of the bar. "It's about Team Galactic."

"Hmm." The brown-haired man said while helping himself to some drinks from the bar. "What about them?"

"Let's wait till the champ gets here." Replied Ash while lightly pinching Pikachu's cheek, getting a slight complaint from the little mouse.

"You mean your girlfriend?" the other man mocked.

"Ah, music to my ears."

The two young men swapped stories about their journeys and work for the last four years, and reminisced about the times they used to compete over the littlest things when they were young. Ash brought up the topic of the half Pokeball they both hold, and Gary pulled a necklace from under his shirt to show Ash his half. Not long after, the awaited person arrived.

"Well, she took her sweet time, didn't she?" Gary commented while nudging Ash.

"Let's not worry about that, man. But you _are_ late, Cynthia." Ash added.

"Well, being the Sinnoh Champion isn't exactly the easiest job. But sorry for my tardiness." The female replied while taking a seat beside her boyfriend.

"No problem. Now, let's get down to business." Said Ash, while putting Pikachu on the bar, which had fallen asleep from his trainer's petting.

"Uh-huh." Answered the other man while taking a sip from his drink.

"I see that you're not here for the Conference only, Gary." Stated the young man with the ponytailed hair. Gary flinched a little at the statement. "Man, you're sharp. And here, I was about to talk to you about that."

"Right. I assume the Looker put you up to this?" Ash asked.

"Again, righty-o."

* * *

**10:30 PM  
International Police Headquarters  
Intelligence Sector**

A lightly bearded man was sitting down on his chair, holding a cigar in his left hand and a glass of what seemed to be Camus on his right. "Looker" was written on his work desk's prism nameplate, jolted down with a black marker. On the other side of the nameplate, "Kozenikata Heiji" was in scripted.

**(A/N: Camus is a long running brand of Cognac)**

He was wearing a set of clothing similar to Michael Corleone in his years as the _Don._ Graceful, neat, and accurate. Near his desk was a coat stand, with a Fedora hung on top. He lighted his slightly dying cigar one more time.

One of the ice cubes in his Camus moved, signalling the heat in the room which was filled with smoke.

One of his men came into the room after knocking a couple of times.

"Sir, I need your..." He was quickly cut off by the sophisticated looking man.

"Sit down, boy." Suddenly, the stereo turned on, playing Slow Jazz Blues, _Count Basie _and _Oscar Peterson_ style, silenced Trumpet. The employee sat down with a confused look on his face.

"Do you know where the phrase "Hard-Boiled" comes from?" the man asked.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"It comes from hard-boiled eggs. That's right. It's like tonight's hard-boiled moon." The man said while looking out the window, taking a puff from his cigar. "Why would "Hard-boiled" that used to mean hard-boiled eggs have a different meaning now?" he paused. The younger man was still sitting there with a blank face.

"This may be still too early for the kids who are still reading _Playboy_ to understand... So ask that question again when you've started reading _Business Playboy._" The man pointed to the younger male with his cigar.

"However, there's one thing that remains clear." He paused again, and approached his drink.

"That is... On this "hard-boiled" night, you will feel compelled to have a drink." He picked up his glass of Camus, and shook it a little. "Men can only quench their thirst with alcohol." He then took a sip from the glass. "I'm a hard-boiled detective... A sly and cunning fox..."

"Uh... Sir? I just need your signature right here." The employee finally mustered up his courage to say something and to immediately get out of the room.

"Oh right, sorry."

After getting his paper signed, he exited the room in a hurried manner.

"I'm a hard-boiled detective... Who lives for the sake of battles." With that, he took another sip from his Camus while once again looking at the hard-boiled moon. "I live entirely for fights with crimes. I constantly deal with evil deeds in the busy street of the _Downtown _area. They are the only thing can boil my hard-boiled heart..."

"Brother Kozenikata!" A young female tomboy entered the room in a hurried manner. "What is it?" The Looker quickly replied after putting down his cigar.

"Criminals have been spotted in the outskirts of Indigo Plateau carrying out suspicious activities! They are requesting that we go to the scene!"

"Aaaaah, no, no. I'm too lazy. More like, I've got no "mou-tee-va-zion" y'know? These cases are all the same, they're boring, y'know? Monotonous!"

"Brother..."

* * *

**10:30 PM  
Indigo Plateau  
Charleston Hotel  
Computer Lounge**

"Hey Max. What're you doing with in here?" Brock asked while getting in the Lounge after seeing his younger friend inside.

"You remember how that Thanatos guy is freakishly strong, right? And how he was recommended by some nobody figure?" the younger male answered while still typing away. "Of course. That Pikachu he has is something else. So what about him?" the man with the squinted eyes asked back. "Well, I did some superficial research about Dr. Raito. You know where his name came up in?"

"... I've got nothing."

"Well, feast your eyes on this." Max said while opening a page from the net.

A silver outlined web page was displayed on the screen. The title read _Galactic Corporation_. Under the headline was a line of links showing different sections of the site that can be explored, such as _home, about us, mission & vision, contact us,_ and many more. Max had opened a page under _head personnel, _sub section of Research Department. The name Raito Light can be seen on top of the names list.

"Okay. So this means..." Brock broke the silence that had plagued the room for a minute or two. "That Thanatos guy is with Team Galactic?" The Gym Leader shouted in surprise while Max covered his ears.

"What's going on in here? Why all the noise?" May came in with Misty, who heard the noise from outside.

"You won't believe this! That awesomely strong Thanatos guy is part of Team Galactic!" Brock once again shouted out loud. Max placed his hand on his face, as if silently saying _Why did I tell him_?

"What? Is this true, Max?" May asked her little brother.

"Yeah, I'm the one that told him. But I'm not 100% sure about this; it can be some other Raito in Team Galactic." The little brother answered with a shrug.

"Raito? Team Galactic?" Misty said in confusion.

"Let me explain." The young teen said while scratching his head. "But, we need to figure out what to do with this guy... My instinct says he's trouble."

* * *

**11:00 PM  
Indigo Plateau  
District 9  
City Exit**

A figure could be seen walking down the street of Indigo Plateau at night while the shops close for the day. He was wearing a dark attire, with his Pikachu walking beside him. He had just finished the meeting with his old rival, explaining the situation about Team Galactic occupation of the village. He sent off the Sinnoh Champion to her hotel afterwards. With nothing exciting happening for the last half an hour, he walked it off in District 9, heading to the outskirts in a very relaxed manner. His next match was in three days, the last of the preliminaries.

"Pika pi Pikachu pi." Pikachu started the conversation.

"Oh come on, I thought we cleared this up already. I like naming my techniques! It clears off any confusion about which attack I'm going to use so my allies can think about what to do next..." Ash stopped his sentence to find Pikachu looking at him in a sceptical way. "Y... Yeah, okay... But in all those battle mangas they name their techniques all the time! And I even got to the trouble of learning fragments of Latin from the net! But still, I think my previous point was valid also. It's not lame. Not lame at all."

The two continued walking leisurely to find that some sort of trouble was brewing. In a clearing in the outskirts, a commotion was going on. Cops were present, while what seemed to be Team Galactic is on the other side of the clearing. Ash got closer to hear one of the officer talking in the loudspeaker.

"Once again, knees on the ground and hands on the back of your heads! We have reports of suspicious activities in the area!" the police shouted.

A group of people came in the scene after hearing the noises. It was Ash's old gang, who was there to see if they can help, just like always. Having missed 'Thanatos' in the scene, they started to talk to the officers to see what they can do. Ash ignored them and looked at the Galactics.

The five Galactic members got down to the ground and did like the police said, which came to a surprise for Ash. The Galactic members were wearing a different outfit than the usual grunts. They looked more built; they wore balaclavas and fingerless gloves. They were wearing black tights this time, still with the lightning yellow 'G' imprints. Over the uniform, they wore something else, however, it was hard for Ash to see because of the darkness of the night and the torches from the Police shifted positions constantly.

A number of Police Officers, walked near the five suspects, with standard edition Compact G19s. A few officers lighted the five people on the ground, giving visibility to those around.

Uninterested and not wanting to be seen by his old gang, Ash walked away from the scene to head to his home much further in the outskirts. However, his eyes caught a glimpse of the five people who were then fully visible. They were wearing something strange and not needed unless there was something big. They were wearing something that meant that they were ready to be captured. Ballistic Vests. They were ready to be captured, and they were ready to fight back.

The first officer was ready to frisk the first Galactic member, and got closer. The unsuspecting officer started to search for weapons, however, only finding his face being squashed to the ground like a mosquito by the Galactic behind the one getting searched. All of the Police Officers immediately pulled out all of their firearms, but they were too slow to save the leading squad in front. With a number of standard pistols aimed at them, the leader of the five raised his hands in a mocking manner.

"Now, now, don't get hasty; we didn't kill any of them. Though I wonder, where's the standard Police Growlithe?" He said while stepping back with his hands still up. "Your puny guns won't be able to damage any of us here."

"Silence! Who sent you and what is your objective here!" one of the officers said while getting closer and pointing the gun to the man's head.

"Did you really think we're going to tell? You _must_ be joking." He laughed and soon he was joined by his four comrades. "Tell you one thing though. There's a timed explosive somewhere in the International Trade Center in this town. Are you going to waste your time here?"

The officer seemed uninterested at the statement. "Joe! Get some of your guys to check the building!" He said while turning his head to Joe.

When he did, unfortunately, the five saw the opening and scattered into the woods and retreated. "Better go there fast or the building will be destroyed!" Many officers tried to pursue them, only to be stopped. "Let them go, we have a bigger problem if what they were saying is true."

* * *

Ash and Pikachu followed the officers to the Trade Center, while the gang was given a ride by the Police. When they arrived, the Police already barricaded the place.

"What's the situation?"

"It's bad, sir. They really were telling the truth. There's one discovered time bomb currently, and we only have 6 minutes left."

"Are there civilians in the building?"

"Yes, but we've evacuated some of them, not all. We need more man power."

"Well then, let us help!" Dawn said while stepping forward, offering help to the police.

"This isn't some games for youngsters, you should go home."

"I think we're more useful than just some kids, officer. We can take care of ourselves. Besides, you're in desperate need for men, right? Don't worry, we just want to help." Offered Brock. The Officer sighed and gave in to Brock's reasoning. The man was right, and they could use their help to evacuate all the people in there. "Fine." He said. "But when the timer hits 2 minutes, you're all getting out of there, finished evacuating or not. We've called the EOD team for this. I don't want to be responsible for young people like you getting killed."

"Alright, let's go!" Brock said, leading the gang to the building.

"Are we that desperate, sir?"

"Apparently, yes."

* * *

Ash and Pikachu wasted no time talking to the officers. He used the supplies entrance to enter the building, and he started to look for the explosive. He could have asked the police officer, but he doubted that they would tell him where it is. He hid several times from his friends trying to evacuate, until he finally found the explosives. It was on the Third Floor, attached to many of the pillars. Most of the room was covered with the timed explosives, the timer glowing red all over the place. It was showing 2:25.

The Pillar with the explosives was positioned close to the line of glass windows, facing the police barricade. Outside the big room was the Police, standing guard in case something happened.

"_What's their purpose of putting a bomb here? This is ridiculous."_ Ash thought to himself while getting closer to the explosives. Having no time to waste, he pulled his hair into his usual ponytail, and wore his balaclava part way, like he always did with it. He took off his overcoat and kneeled in front of the explosives. He had some experience in the field of bomb disposal, he got experience from back when Raito taught him how to. He had never thought he would try his hands at disarming explosives in real life, though.

Without having second thoughts, he examined the explosives. C4 charges only. _"This doesn't make sense... These charges aren't even connected to the timer." _Thought the young man while trying to figure out how the explosives will detonate. He took the timer off the pillar, and inspected it one more time. An ordinary clock counting down. He threw the clock away and started to look at the explosives again. He could probably disarm a few, but not all of them. "Tsch. Where's the EOD team when you need them." He complained.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried out while pointing in a direction.

"Unfortunately, the EOD guys won't be coming anytime soon. Or maybe they're not coming altogether."

Ash quickly stood up and turned around to get into a battle stance. There he saw a familiar face from Team Galactic; the vice-captain of the encountered five.

* * *

"The bomb's going to go off soon! The EOD team isn't coming, are they?" A police officer shouted in panic.

"Calm down, man! They'll be here, we just have to wait!" a fellow officer tried to calm him down, but failed.

"No, no! They're not coming! I'm outta here!" Said the first officer before running off the scene. The second quickly followed, seemingly affected by what the first said.

"This is the bomb site, we have no time to waste, Brother Kozenikata!" A young female said to her companion. "What are you doing, Brother!"

"On a night like this... Camus on the rock is a perfect drink." Said the man while looking out the window. "You're scared, aren't you? Your legs are shaking, brother." The female said. "No. My legs are shaking merely because of the beast that has been stirring inside of me- *Bleeeeeerghhh*" "You're totally scared aren't you? You're throwing up because you're scared! Come on, we've got no time to waste!" Both ran to the door of the room planted with bombs, only to be stopped by the sight of two people conversing in front of the bombs.

"Buneary, wait!" A female voice was heard across the hall near the two Police. "Don't just run off like that, we need to get out of here!"

"Dawn, wait up!" Another female followed her, and she was followed by two guys. "We need to exit the building!" she said to Dawn.

"I know, I know! Let's go, Buneary!" the brunette replied in a hurried manner.

"Wait, I want to see the bomb site!" Max shouted before running off to the door to find the Looker. "Oh hey, look! It's the international Police agent! The weird hard-boiled one!" he signalled his friends. "Max, we need to get out of here, what if the bombs go off while we're still inside?" Brock warned the younger trainer, before getting a glimpse of a familiar figure in a distance in the bomb site. "Hey, look! That's Thanatos!"

"And that's a Team Galactic member! I knew he was bad news!" Max added.

"Shush! They're talking!" The female police said while getting a better position to eavesdrop on the conversation.

* * *

"What a surprise, meeting the infamous Thanatos here. Although it would seem we don't share the same goal." Said the armed man while approaching Ash. He took out a firearm and aimed it at 'Thanatos'.

"Kudos to you, Neptune. What's the vice-captain of the highly acclaimed Bravo Company doing here?" Ash shot back a question while he raises his hands. "The opposite of what you're doing, obviously."

"I would take that the documents you're holding is your objective?"

"Who knows, maybe 'tis, maybe 'tis not."

Ash eyed the man, looking at his gear. The man was pointing a machine pistol at him, and he was not carrying any other firearms. At his side, he had a mechanism that Ash quickly classified as the missing piece of the puzzle.

"Ah, I see. A detonator. That's how this whole thing is going to go."

"Cut the crap, Silent-killer. I knew something was fishy about you. Never actually meeting the higher-ups, only taking orders from Raito? Knowing Raito, I should've killed you when I had the chance. Fortunately, your life will be spared right now. My objective is just to deliver these documents. Maybe I could say one or two nice things to the Boss about you." Said Neptune while making a dash to the windows.

"Not so fast, buddy." Said Ash, running after Neptune. He grabbed Neptune's wrist and threw him back like a ragdoll. "Anything Cyrus wants, I want. All part of the 'bring-Cyrus-down' plan, you see?"

Neptune quickly recovered from the fall, and took a battle stance after putting the documents away. "Well then, you'll just have to die, you traitor!" Neptune took his machine pistol and aimed it at Ash once more.

"One time, Team Galactic has screwed me over... And that's one time too many." Said Ash before he ran towards the vice-captain of the Bravo Company.

Neptune pulled the trigger out of reflex, letting out a burst of bullets in Ash's direction, however, to find the target was already out of the line of fire. Ash grabbed Neptune's hand pulled the man towards him, while he launched his knee to the man's face. Having a broken nose, Neptune released his grip on the machine pistol to grab his face. Ash quickly got ready for one his techniques, his right metallic hand opening holes to suck in air. The air pressure changed around the two, and Neptune's face was pale, and one could guess soon it would turn blue. The man was holding his neck and was deprived of oxygen, which was being sucked to Ash's metallic hand. Not being able to breathe, Neptune fainted. He took the detonator from the Galactic member.

"Now, let's see those documents, shall we?"

* * *

**There, the 8th chapter done. Not much Rayshipping on this one.**

**I should be uploading more frequently now, University's starting soon, and I'll be spending lots of hours with my laptop.**

**Introduced another character, there's going to be one more in the coming chapters.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	9. Despair

**Hello, good people! I'm back with another chapter =)**

**Enjoy the update!**

* * *

**..**

**Despero**

**11:30 PM  
Indigo Plateau  
International Trade Center  
Floor 3F  
15.00%**

"Max, why did they fight?" A brunette girl asked her companion while trying not to be seen from inside the hall.

"I don't know, Dawn. But it seems there's more to Thanatos than I've thought." The teenage boy answered while fixing his glasses. "From what I can see, he just took out a fellow Team Galactic member on his own accord."

"But why?" another girl asked.

"You just asked the same question as Dawn, May." A man with squinted eyes replied to the question. "Judging from what we saw, Thanatos was the traitor to Team Galactic, and is trying to take Cyrus down." Said the man with squinted eyes in soft whisper, attempting not to alarm the person in the next room. "What do you think, Mr. Kozenikata?"

"It's the Looker, boy. We, hard-boiled men..."

"Oh, give it up with the hard-boiled act! We all know you're not hard-boiled at all!" a female tomboy interrupted him while giving the man a slap on the back of his head. The Looker gave a deep sigh, and started to walk towards the person standing in the next room. "I'll talk to him. You youngsters go and get a good night's sleep. This is a matter between men." With that, he entered the room.

"You heard the man, let's go!" Brock said while tugging on Max's shirt. "No! I want to see what happens next. For all we know, that Thanatos guy could be a lot of trouble!"

* * *

Thanatos walked over to the unconscious vice-captain and took his pack containing the documents the man took from the trade center. The young trainer pulled the papers from the bag and started examining it. He threw the bag on top of the body as he started to read the stolen goods. "So, boy. How's business these days?" He turned around to see a sophisticated looking man with a cigar. The man fixed his Fedora, and walked closer to Ash.

"Not bad. Did you come here for the bomb, Mr. Kozenikata? I'm afraid you're too late for that. And your company in the next room was making quite the ruckus. While we're on that subject, can you lot over there come here, instead of sneaking around outside?" The young man answered while looking over the papers. "I don't feel comfortable being watched."

Soon the gang entered the room slowly and carefully, accompanied by an awkward laugh. "Relax, it's not like I'm going to take you out like I did this guy." Said the young man while pointing to the unconscious man. He proceeded to read the papers again. "I think I just found another piece of the puzzle." He stated with a big grin. "What was that?" "Nothing. I feel like I'm forgetting something though. Something really important."

"You mean the bombs? We need to disarm these." Said the older man while going over to the explosives. He inspected the threats and came to a quick conclusion after taking another puff from his cigar. "These aren't connected." Said the man. "Gee, you think?" Ash stated sarcastically just as he finished reading. "Wow, you know about these stuffs, Mister?" Max asked with admiration in his eyes. "Heh. This is nothing for me, boy. Living as a detective means you have to solve crimes like this every day in the downtown area..." The man was cut mid sentence by a slap on the back of his head from his assistant. "We don't even have a downtown area!"

"Thanatos." A brunette girl called out Ash's work-name with a serious face. She was holding a Buneary, and a Prinplup was standing beside her. "You're working for Team Galactic, right? Why should we trust you?" she asked. "That's right. Why should you?" Thanatos shot back a question, answered with a confused look the girl gave. "You could've just called the Police right then when you were hiding, but you didn't. In fact, we've got a very accomplished officer right here!" He stated in a playful manner while pointing out The Looker. "Well then, can we ask you some questions?" A man with squinted eyes stepped up from the group, confronting the man wearing the overcoat and the balaclava. "Try me, Mr. Brock."

"We were ambushed by a number of Galactic members on our way to Indigo Plateau. Do you know anything of this incident?" he asked. "You do realize that I'm a Galactic member myself, right?" Brock gulped hard, and replied, "Yes, and a very rebellious one, at that." He answered while pointing to the person lying on the ground. Thanatos gave a slight chuckle at that remark. "Cyrus is trying to do what he failed to do 4 years ago. Now with major upgrades." Thanatos waved the bundle of documents at Brock. "You guys foiled his plans the last time remember?" Brock nodded, followed by the gang behind him. "He doesn't want any of that right now. So he's planning to get _you guys _out of the picture. All of you."

Thanatos' PokeNav started ringing a second later. He pushed the answer button and began to speak.

"Thanatos here." Answered the young man while signalling the others to wait. "Ah, there you are. I've looked over the copy of the documents you sent me about an hour ago, and I must say you've got an interesting find." The person on the other side of the line replied. "Hey there, old man. Start the story."

"All right. So the Time Gears, from my research, are artefacts of great importance. It keeps the flow of time going in this world. Even the most hardened criminals know not to touch the Time Gears, lest the flow of time be disrupted. From the copy of the notes I have received from you, it seems that these places are where the Gears are located. Once they are taken out from their places, time will completely stop in the area of jurisdiction of that specific gear. While in that jurisdiction, there contains a Guardian that keeps away intruders from the artefact. Why did you want me to research about this, anyway?"

"At first, out of sheer interest. Now, it seems that Cyrus plans to gather all five. For what, I don't know."

"How do you know?"

"The documents I recovered from a Bravo Company member I stopped..."

"_Bravo Company..." _Ash thought inwardly.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?" The Doctor yelled through the PokeNav.

"Yeah, yeah! Wait a sec! It seems I'm remembering something important! Don't hang up the call, old man." Replied Ash. "_Something about Bravo Company..."_

"Hey, so this is a member of Galactic's proud fire team? He's heavily armoured and equipped..." A girl wearing a bandana said while kneeling beside the unconscious body.

"_Bravo Company... Fire team... Armor... Equipment?"_

Ash shot a fierce look to the body, and saw the 'G' imprint on the body's left shoulder. "Shit!" He started to make his way to the windows, and got ready to exit. "Looker, it's all up to you! The detonator's somewhere with him!" The gang gave a confused look. "What about you?" The Looker asked the obvious question. "I've got something to do, something urgent. Let's go, Pikachu!" "Pika!" He jumped out of one of the open windows, and took a PokeBall from his belt. "Salamence!" said the young trainer while releasing his pseudo-legendary. He got on top of the dragon Pokemon. "To the Galactic Headquarters, double time!"

"Ash! What's happening?" A voice from the PokeNav reached his ears.

"The sound transmitter equipment from the Bravo Company member! I forgot to destroy it before I revealed that I'm against Cyrus, and you were included in the conversation! You have to get out of there, quick, and take the documents about the Time Gears with you too!" Ash screamed at the top of his lungs to the PokeNav. "Okay, okay, I'll get to it!" "I'll be there in less than 10 minutes, get out of there as fast as you could and come to the usual place." With that, Ash ended the call. He texted Cynthia in case he needed help, informing her of the rendezvous point he had chosen. "Step it up, Salamence!"

* * *

**11:50 PM  
Galactic Main Headquarters  
Vici  
Research Room**

"Stuff to take, stuff to take..." an old, bearded man was gathering his belongings before he evacuated the building. He had a Galactic nameplate on his lab coat that said "Dr. Raito". "Where were those copies of the documents that Ash had sent me?" mumbled the aged man while looking for the pieces of papers. "Ah, here it is!" Finding the bundle of papers, he slipped some into his pocket, while he held the copies.

"Unfortunately, you're going to have to hand those over to me, Doctor." Said a man who had just entered the room, accompanied by two men who were fully armed and guarded by three Mightyena. Dr. Raito quickly turned around to see who it was.

"Cyrus." He stated. "What a surprise to see you here. Usually you just stay coped up in your office on the top floor. What brings you here?" he said with a big smile. "You know what I'm here for, Raito. Don't play dumb." Said the organization leader while pointing to the sheets of paper the Doctor was holding.

"Oh, you mean these?" the older man said while flashing the bundle of paper. He strafed little by little, until he stood beside a machine placed on a table beside a big recycling bin. "What are you doing..." warned one of the guards while raising his pistol.

"These are just my shopping list, you see, so there's nothing to see." Dr. Raito inserted the papers he was holding to the machine beside him, which ripped to pieces to shreds. "Hehe, I wouldn't want people to see what I buy in private." "You bastard..!" the guard said as he pointed the pistol at Raito's head. "We can always recover the bits and pieces from the shredder. But shoot him first. Any last words, Doctor?" Cyrus said as he got ready to give the command.

"Mind giving me time for one last smoke, good sir?" said the bearded man while lighting up a lighter.

"Sir..." the other guard spoke. "Hmm?"

"He... doesn't smoke... He doesn't smoke!" the guard shouted when he saw Dr. Raito quickly took the lid off the shredder and threw the lighter in the bin, setting the papers on fire. "Aah, the documents!" the guard panicked and accidentally fired a shot, hitting one of the Doctor's arm. "Aaargh!" shouted Raito while holding his arm. The other guard got ready to bash the living hell out of the former Galactic Researcher.

"Hold it!" Cyrus quickly intervened and lowered the guard's pistol. "You're going to pay for that, Doctor. Guards, restrain him!"

* * *

In less than 10 minutes later, Ash had arrived in the Main Headquarters, and he quickly rushed off to the research center. The other employees did not seem to know about Ash and Dr. Raito's declaration of betrayal, but he knew that the disciplinary officers would have taken action by now. Ash knew he was digging his own grave, but he could not reach Raito by phone, so he had to make sure. In a seemingly endless hallway, a bad feeling rushed to Ash's chest. The door that usually was kept open was closed, and that itself gave him a bad premonition. Pikachu was running beside him, and kept a worried look on his face.

He got ready to open the door, and rushed in to the room. "Old man!"

When he opened the door, his eyes widened in surprise. The old man was sitting in a chair in the rather large research facility, with a bleeding arm. _Heavily _bleeding. "Old man, what happened to you? We need to get out of here!" said the young man in panic.

"Oh, that won't be happening anytime soon, or at all, Silent-Killer." Said the man who Ash quickly identified to be Team Galactic's leader while approaching the Doctor. "You see, this Doctor here has done something quite unacceptable." Cyrus started explaining. "He burned away important documents. I was going to make his capture a fast and normal one, but he brought it to himself." He turned to face Thanatos, who was getting ready for a fight. "You, give me that thing." Ordered Cyrus to one of the guards, who immediately complied. He accepted the pistol from the guard, and pointed it at the Doctor's head.

"No... You wouldn't!" Ash cried out while removing the glove on his right hand, while Pikachu's cheeks started to spark.

"You will keep that arm and mouse to yourself, or I will blast this man's head off." Cyrus warned. "Now, kindly hand over the documents you got from Bravo Company."

"Don't... do it..." said Dr. Raito to Ash while panting heavy breaths.

"Now, Doctor, _you_ have to _remember _that _I _am the one giving orders here!" shouted Cyrus before hitting Dr. Raito on the face repeatedly.

Ash tried to intervene, only to be stopped by the guards who had increased in numbers and were all pointing their pistols at him, with a number of Mightyenas surrounding him. "Now, the documents?" Cyrus said to Ash once again, to which Ash just stayed stationary. "Very well, then. We'll just have to take it off your dead body. Guards, shoot him."

Right after Cyrus issued the order, Dr. Raito got up from his seat.

He took a knife from a nearby table, and ran up to Cyrus in an attempt to stab him.

Being inexperienced with a firearm, Cyrus quickly turned around and fired multiple body shots while getting thrown back from the recoil of the gun.

"Old man!" Ash ran to Dr. Raito who was now lying motionless on the ground. "Old man! Hang in there!"

"I am getting sick of this nonsense. Guards, take them out, and retrieve the documents." Said the Galactic leader while standing up and fixing his clothes. With that, he exited the room.

"You... You bastard! Come back here!" Ash tried to go for Cyrus only to find that the way was completely blocked off by guards. Holes once again appeared on his metallic arm as he prepared to launch an attack, only to stop before he could finish. The arm was jammed.

"H-hey... What's wrong? Too afraid to come at us, Silent-Killer?" a guard tried to taunt him.

"Shit!" Ash pulled Dr. Raito's hand and placed it across his shoulder, carrying him towards a wall, which he released his Metagross to break down. They jumped down a couple of stories with the help of Metagross, and tried to escape to the forests, but were pursued by the guards. Ash ordered his Metagross to perform a Hyper Beam attack to break down the source of pursuers, to which the pseudo-legendary happily complied.

Ash started to make his way to the forest with Dr. Raito on his back.

* * *

"_What's this? I have an artificial arm?" Ash said in surprise when he took a good look at his supposed-to-be-missing-arm. "Yeah. I couldn't just leave it like it was before. I don't know how to amputate, so I just attached a metallic arm." "Cool..." Ash said, still dazed._

"_Now, with this arm, you'll get substantially strong. What I request of you is that you'll never take the life of another human being with this arm." Dr. Raito said with a big smile._

"_Don't worry, old man. I promise I won't."_

* * *

"I still kept my promise up until now, old man! The arm jammed, and I didn't kill those guys like I wanted to! Don't die on me!" Ash shouted, his eyes getting watery. He dragged his feet, carrying the man along the rugged path of the forest. He had no idea where he was going, he just needed to get away from that place.

* * *

"_They took away your sister?" Ash gave a question to the old man's earlier statement._

"_Yeah, to make sure that I absolutely follow orders, and that I join Team Galactic without question." Dr. Raito answered. "3 years after joining, I found out that she was long dead. She was killed by Team Galactic to prevent any unwanted attention from the public."_

"_Why... are you telling me this?"_

"_Cyrus did that, no? The fall from the cliff and the arm. And I saved your life, Ash, so you owe me one. Also, I happen to bear a similar grudge to Cyrus! We'll do it together, you and me, whaddya say?" said the older man with a bright smile._

"_Sure!"_

* * *

"Damn it, Old man! Don't play with me, you're going to be fine, right? You'll just recover completely and laugh all the time like you usually do, right? We'll take down Cyrus together, right?" Ash's voice was getting sore, and more water made their way to his eyes. His legs were starting to get weak, his vision was getting blurry, and he was starting to wobble. "Pikapi..." said Pikachu, worried about his trainer and the fatherly figure to his trainer.

* * *

"_What are your dreams, Ash?"_

"_My dreams?"_

"_Yes. Dreams. Surely you have them, don't you?"_

"_Oh yeah! My dream is to be a Pokemon Master! To be the best that I can ever be!"_

"_Now that's a good dream!"_

_With that, both shared a moment of laughter._

"_Say, old man."_

"_Hmm?"_

"_When this is all over, when we take down Team Galactic, will you watch me participate in the regional Conferences? I'm going to win each and every one of them and proceed to the Grand Conference!"_

_The old man gave a chuckle and answered, "Of course I will."_

* * *

"Damn it, old man! You promised to see me win the Grand Conference..." Ash was now dragging his feet completely in an effort to move forward, but was failing. "Why aren't you answering, old man!" They had only been walking for a short amount of time, but it seemed to last an eternity for Ash. Using his last energy to take a step, he fell to his knees, and rested Dr. Raito against a tree. Motionless, the Doctor sat there with a smile spread across his face. Tears began to roll its way down Ash's cheeks as he watched the person who had been like a father to him for the last four years.

Never before that he felt like this, the terrible feeling of having someone he deeply cared about get taken away.

Ash rose to his feet eventually, and returned Metagross to its Pokeball after thanking the steel-type for the good work. He took out another, and released his Salamence. He picked up Dr. Raito's body, and placed it on Salamence's back. Afterwards, he got on also, with Pikachu.

"Let's go home, old man."

* * *

**01:30 AM  
East of Indigo Plateau – Mountainous Area  
Clearing  
Villa – Sanctimonia Residence**

A certain blonde woman was getting restless after waiting for almost an hour at a large and empty waiting room and a Mansion, after getting texted by a certain someone about him needing help. She was getting a bit frustrated and angry, not because he texted her at midnight and requested that she had to go to a noticeably far place to meet, but because he made her wait this long in a very big Mansion that apparently required a number of servants. She didn't even make him wait 20 minutes last time.

When she was mumbling something along the lines of 'That idiot', she heard the growl of a Pokemon outside, landing on the courtyard. She ran outside to see that a Salamence just landed, and a person with long hair was standing next to it. She noticed that a number of servants made their way to the courtyard too, greeting the arrival of the owner.

Cynthia started to walk towards the man who was standing beside the Salamence, the man who made her wait for quite a long time. "So, Ash, where have you..." she stopped mid-sentence. Ash was carrying a person, a person who was lying motionless on his arms. The servants gasped at the sight, most of them running towards Ash to see if it was really true, while one or two went inside the building to get the medic. She could hear some of the maids saying, "The master! The master has passed away!"

Ash passed the body to the head butler and said, "Let me have the honour of digging his grave." With that, Ash headed to the Residence's graveyard. The butler offered him a shovel to which Ash declined and replied, "I'll dig the grave with the arm he gave me."

Cynthia stayed by Ash's side the whole time he was digging, where the noises of dirt being shaped echoes in Ash's head.

The next day, the funeral was held for Raito.

* * *

The funeral ended early that day, because of the rain that started to pour at the end of the ceremony. Ash stayed in front of the grave, cursing himself of his mistake he made the day before. He could have destroyed the sound transmitter if he had not forgotten it; he was careless. "Damn it..." he muttered.

"Ash..." Cynthia said from Ash's side. "Let's go, you'll catch a cold if you keep standing here." Stated the blonde-haired woman while reaching out for his hand. She realized that he had no intention of moving away anytime soon. He had told her what happened the morning after he returned, spending a lot of time letting it out.

She pulled Ash to embrace him in a hug in an attempt to comfort him. Knowing her intentions, he returned the hug. "Are you feeling any better?" she asked. Ash smiled, and replied, "Better than yesterday night, definitely. Now, I'm even more determined to take down Team Galactic and pay Cyrus back for what he had done; to me _and_ to the old man. And I don't think the old man would want me being depressed and emotional, when I've got something big to accomplish in the near future. Thanks for making me feel better, Cynthia."

Hearing this, Cynthia let out a deep sigh of relief and released the hug. Ash looked at her and said, "I didn't say I was feeling _that_ much better, I still need the hug. In fact, I might need something more..." Cynthia immediately looked down in embarrassment , hiding her flushed red face. Ash chuckled at her behaviour. "You're so cute." "Stop teasing me!" said the girl in protest.

Ash leaned in towards her face, catching her lips in a kiss, which she gladly returned.

* * *

**A bit shorter, but hope you enjoyed nonetheless =)**


	10. Round Two

.  
**alter altera alterum  
..**

As the seemingly endless night for the young man comes to a close, Ash got up from his bed in his room in the mansion of his late father-like figure. He rubbed his eyes, and let out a long sigh. The man just was not able to forget the incident that happened the night before. "Heh." Ash chuckled heavily. "Can't move on that easily, can I." He stated as he rubbed the back of his head. He pressed both his palms against his face, and felt the urgent need to let out the surge of anger that was making its way to his body. He fought the urge, and proceeded to take his morning shower.

* * *

**8:50 AM  
Indigo Plateau  
Main Reception Area**

The day was the second round for the Grand Conference, where all the participants were inquired to gather at the main reception area in the city. It was an open park, with a medium-sized stage placed in the middle, close to the fountain. The time showed that it was ten to nine, and almost all the participants who passed the first preliminary round were present.

"Now then." a league official just spoke into the microphone, speaking a little too loud for the sound system causing a feedback. "Pardon me." he coughed, signalled something to the soundmen, and continued. "Congratulations to all of you for passing the first round of the Grand Conference. It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the second round of the Conference. Unfortunately, the organizer of this round is not able to attend this little gathering. I will take the responsibility of explaining the rules and regulation for the second round, for it is quite different from the first round."

Ash had just arrived then, and asked the person closest to him if he had missed anything. Confirming that he was safe, he leaned on the tree next to him. Dressed in his usual attire, he let his partner Pokemon climb his body and rest on his shoulders.

"As you all may have heard, the second round will _not _be a battle-type bout." The official continued. Many murmurs were heard throughout the crowd, signaling the unrest that was spreading. "_I haven't heard about this."_ Ash thought. He looked to the official who was standing on the stage, and saw a line of persons consisting of the Elite fours and the Champions. "_It seems they will be participating too. I thought this was still the preliminaries?" _He eyed the big-shots for a short moment, and fixed his gaze back at the official. "Right. As you all know, there are a total of four rounds in this Conference's preliminaries. However, an incident that occurred recently has triggered a change in the league set-up. The second, third, and fourth round will be completed in one go." Murmurs in the crowd were getting louder and the uneasiness were spreading faster by the second.

"There _will_ be breaks in between, of course, although they are _optional_. Now, for the briefing." The official cleared his throat and began. "This next batch of rounds will filter the trainers into an approximated number of 60. Before the first round, there was a total of 800 nominated trainers, and now there is only 400. Therefore, the Elite Four and the Champions will be joining the next rounds." "That's not fair! They're already qualified to participate in the main battles of the conference from the beginning!" a man shouted from the crowd, declaring his disagreement with the roster. "Calm down, young man." The official snapped back at the the person. "This conference has no need for weak trainers. The fact that you have been nominated to qualify for this tournament has already shown us that you have the potential. However, to be the champion means that you have to be the best of the best. The elite among the elites. If you are disheartened just because the Elite Four and Champions are joining, then you might as well withdraw now, young man." Taken back by what the official said, the young man stayed quiet.

"Now, I will be explaining what the second round will consist of." After pausing, the middle-aged man took out a piece of paper from his inside pocket of his suit. "As you are well aware of, another mountain and cave system is present relatively close to the Victory Road. This natural wonder is called Mount Silver." Ash raised one eyebrow at the name of this mountain, as before he resided in a small cave near Victory Road, he used to frequent this mountain quite a number of times to train. He knew that whatever challenge that they will be given is not going to be an easy one. He looked over to the rest of the crowd, which to his surprise, stayed quiet. "_That name alone is enough "Shock and Awe", I guess."_

"There are three checkpoints located in this mountain. One is on the southern entrance, which will signal the start of the challenge. The second one is on top, which is your half-way point. The third one is one the northern exit, which will signify the end of the second round. You will have to be able to complete and get to the other side of Mt. Silver in four days. Rations will be your own responsibility. Alliances are allowed." With this, the crowd went into an uproar. Half of them was complaining to the official about the unprecendented challenge and time limit, and the other half was already thinking what preparations they should make.

"I'm not finished yet!" The official shouted. "I have one other rule that I need to state." He took out another piece of paper. "Each trainer should be allowed to carry six Pokemon with them, unless stated otherwise." The crowd went silent. "What do you mean?" one of the trainer shouted. "It means that you will not be the ones deciding how many Pokemon you will carry. The judges and referees will decide, along with the higher-ups. But do not worry, they are not allowed to take off more than two, meaning the minimum party number all of you will have is four. I am just going to say it bluntly, since this is no secret. The Elite Four members and the Champions are only to take four with them. Meaning that unless you are as strong as them, you will have more than four Pokemon in your party. However, there is always exceptions." Again, the official's statement silenced the crowd.

"Now, please line up to determine your statuses."

* * *

"Hey May, what did you get?" A blue-haired trainer asked with a cheery voice. "Oh, hey Dawn. I'm allowed to take five with me. It's not bad, I guess." The brunette girl answered. "Me too! It seems most of the people in our group got five, with Max as the exception." Dawn said while looking at May's younger brother. "Hey, it doesn't mean that I'm weaker than you guys, even though I'm allowed to take six with me."

"I guess they're really being strict with the experience levels here, eh." A man with slanted eyes walked over to them accompanied by a young woman with orange hair. "I find this rule really strange though. Although I'm glad the allocations are pretty fair. I don't see anyone complaining as of yet." The rest of the group agreed and nodded with the Cerulean Gym leader, and they decided that as usual, they were going to do the round as a team. As they were going to prepare their rations for the trip, they were greeted by a familiar face. It was the Sinnoh champion.

"So, I assume you guys don't have any complaints about the number of Pokemon you're allowed to take?" Cynthia said while greeting the group with a wave. "Yeah, I'm content with this, I guess." Brock answered. "Us too." the others joined in. "So you're all going to prepare rations for the trip? You'd better hurry though. We're supposed to rendezvous at the mountain in about six hours." the blonde champion said while walking in the direction of the city shops with the group. "Yeah, but we'd be okay, we think. We're used to sleeping and walking around in caves. We pretty much know what to get." Max answered with great enthusiasm. While they were walking away from the main reception area, they were stopped because a loud noise from the main area. Somebody just slammed the table. _Hard._

"Two?" A young man wearing an overcoat shouted to the official. "That's all I'm allowed to take with me to Mt. Silver? **Two?** This is _a bit_ unfair, no? Just a _bit._" The young man said with a high tone of sarcasm in his voice. "Sorry, Mr. Thanatos, sir... But that's the info we got from the higher-ups. We have no power to change it." The scared official said with a shaky voice. "Right. So all these other trainers get to bring four or more Pokemon in their parties, and I get to bring two. Two. Two!" shouted Thanatos while holding up two fingers to the official.

"That's... Thanatos, right?" May asked Brock while looking at the scene. "He's only allowed to take two?" said the Pewter Gym leader. The group continued to watch the scene for a little longer.

* * *

"I'm sorry sir, but... there's really nothing I can do." "Tsch." Thanatos clicked his tongue while punching the table. He know the one that organized this whole sequence. The leader of the sponsor company of the conference."Then tell me this. What's waiting for us on the other side of Mt. Silver?" he asked while grabbing the collar of the official. The security guard immediately took action and held Thanatos by the arms to try and separate the two. Seeing this, the official that was announcing the rules came over. "Calm down, young man" He said while putting his hand on the young man's shoulder. Thanatos' Pikachu was staring at him and was ready to go. "Whoa! What a perky little fellow we have here." the official said without flicking an eyebrow. He took a piece of paper from his suit pocket and handed it over to the seemingly short-tempered participant. He went closer to the young man and whispered, "It'd be best if you don't make scenes here, Mr. Ketchum." Hearing that, time stood still for Thanatos.

"You.. You're the director-" "-_You_ know well what our leader's trying to do. If you go berserk here, then you'll fall into his scheme. It's only normal that you are a little.. on edge, after what happened yesterday. Stay low." The official said with a bright smile. He placed his hand on one of Thanatos' shoulder and continued, "Win this. Bravo's with you." "...and why should I trust you?" Thanatos said while looking at the older person in the eye. "Let's just say I'm not willing to sacrifice myself for a world only for him. As for Bravo, the captain's set on helping you. Who knows what's going on in her head." Thanatos shook the hand off his shoulder, and started to walk away.

"Do whatever you want."

* * *

"_You lost your cool." _Pikachu stated telepathically to his partner. "Not now, Pikachu." Ash said out loud, ignoring the fact that other people may have heard him. The young man clicked his tongue once more. "_It's not like you can't get through Mt. Silver with only two Pokemon._"

"I know, I know." Ash answered out loud, turning a few heads towards him. He noticed this and realized he must have seemed like a mad person, talking out of the blue. "_I know that, buddy. But it still pisses me off that we're the only ones that is limited severely. It's one of those things." _He sighed, then he went on to give his analogy of the situation. "_It's like this. Imagine if you're invited to a dinner party, and they serve steaks. The other people that was invited was given a fork and a knife to eat, accompanied by sparkling water and red wine. But, we're denied that right of a fork and knife. We get chopsticks. Chopsticks to eat steak. Accompanied by avocado juice and chocolate milkshake. It's not like we can't finish the damn thing, it's just with these conditions it's going to take us that much longer. And not to mention we pretty much won't be able to enjoy the meal." _Finishing his analogy, he walked a bit slower than before.

_"Although..." _He sighed again. "Pika?" Pikachu perked up his ears.

_"It doesn't matter if we have forks, knives, or chopsticks. Given the proper cutlery, one can still finish the meal. However, if the foundation of the process is weak, in this analogy the chemical breakdown which is performed by the teeth, one will have difficulty finishing this meal. A toddler with a newly grown set of teeth will have extreme difficulty chewing a cut of meat, let alone finishing it." _Stopping completely, Ash thought about where he wanted to go. He decided he would finish his preparations for the upcoming round and choose the _two_ Pokemon he would bring.

He recalled a time where he was still with Team Galactic. He was on a break where he happened to overhear the commander of Bravo Team talk to her men.

"In a battle, _any _battle, getting swayed by your emotions means the end of you. Without the ability to make rational decisions, you're as useless as a Magikarp on land. _If _you do win, and that's only a big _if, _it's by pure luck."

Ash thought about the incident the day before and felt another surge of anger going up his body. His hand is itching for something to grab, his fist ready to punch steel, his feet ready to break bricks, his teeth itching to bite, and his lungs with the capacity to scream as loud as a lion's roar. He sucked in the inside of his right cheek in his mouth and bit it hard to release some of the vent up anger. Realizing that he was tasting his own blood a second later, he released the bite and resumed walking.

"I guess I'm back to the toddler stage." whispered the young trainer under his breath.

* * *

**Foot of Mt. Silver's Southern Entrance  
(Silver Town's Northern Outskirts)  
02:55 PM**

"Welcome to the Second Round of the Grand Conference!"

Anticipation can be felt among the four hundred participants that was gathered on the foot of Mt. Silver. With the presence of the Elite Four and the Champions, most of the trainers were anxious to show the viewers what they are made of.

"As you all know, this round will too be broadcast in inter-region television. For that reason, a camera- we call them spybots- will hover around you during the time of your participation in this round." Like they were triggered by voice command, the spybots appeared around each individual. "We care not how you get to the other side. You can climb the surface of the mountain, manage your way inside, or some other way you can find." The official stated. "What we do care about is your presence on the other side of the mountain. But of course, we have prepared... surprises for you all. Naturally, further briefing will be conducted once you get to the other side. Now, without further ado..."

The trainers were taking stances to get head starts. Ash, standing a bit further back from the crowd, saw that many trainers had formed alliances with other participants.

He scanned the mountain quickly and sighed. "I don't like the look of this."

"The Second Round of the Grand Conference qualifications is now underway!"

* * *

**I do apologize for the short chapter and the long time I took to update this series, but I've got a (somewhat) valid excuse. I think.**

**About a week or two after I posted chapter 1 of Pokemon: Ridevil, I was actually finished with this chapter, and it was around 4000 words, like usual, and was editing it and whatnot. And then, exams came. Being completely oblivious to the new exam formats, I was caught off guard. So I had to study a bit more for university. I completely forgot about my fics (=p) and was planning to post them on New Year's. But then, 'that' happened.**

**My laptop fell.**

**Yeah.**

**It did. (I hyper ventilated MLG style at this moment)  
**

**I was so pissed, since it had all my stuff and I didn't have the chance to put this in the Document Manager just yet [I lost the LP (Let's Plays) footage I recorded too, which was even more frustrating.] So I kind of did a 'rage quit' on writing the fic for some time, and finally picked it up again. And I kind of forgot what I wrote for this chapter, so I decided to cut this short in preparation for the next. (In case you were wondering, my laptop isn't fixed yet, I tried everything but it just won't get past start-up/boot. I even tried reformatting it. I assume it has come down to the hardware, since it fell and all.)**

**In any case, my rant ends here.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and once again I apologize for the short chapter and the 'hiatus'.**

**Please do review, I do appreciate constructive criticism on my writings and hope I can improve from them.  
**

**Stay MLG.  
Dutch  
**


	11. A Game of Fire

**Exuro**

**Foot of Mt. Silver's Southern Entrance**  
**(Silver Town's Northern Outskirts)**  
**03:02 PM**

"Is it just me, or the whole competition is a bit disorganized?" The young trainer was doing his round of stretches before actually starting the second round of the Grand Conference. An official came over to him while looking up the large mountain in front of them. "It _is_ disorganized, after realizing that "we" needed to do something else besides getting a worthy trainer to do it." Upon hearing the official, Ash turned around to identify the person to be the official he met during in the reception area. "What are _you_ doing here? I thought an executive from team Galactic would better spend their days in office. You know, ordering people around."

"Bravo team and I are thinking of getting out of Team Galactic, as I said earlier." "Ah, yeah, that. So what are you planning to do now, Mr. Leader? Your team won't get any funding from the company anymore." "Leader… I like the sound of that." He took a cigarette from his pocket and lighted it up. "You might want to check your balance sheet when you get back to the mansion. You _did_ inherit Raito's properties and the likes. Speaking of which, how do you feel about this round?" Ash shrugged and turned to see the mountain. "I'm not sure, frankly speaking. With only two Pokémon, I'm pretty sure I can get across Mt. Silver. However, what lies after is the thing I'm worried about. I've been there once, it was thick with fog, couldn't do much. What are we supposed to do once we get there?"

Leader took his cigarette and spun it around before taking a puff. "Eh, you'll see. It makes for a nice surprise." "What's that smell?" the younger one asked out of curiosity. "It's my cigar. Chocolate flavour." "Right… Well, have fun with that." Ash ended the conversation with a wave and proceeded to enter the mountain.

Right beside the entrance, he overheard a pair of trainers talking. "Dammit! I wish I'd have brought along my flying Pokémon for this round. I didn't know we were allowed to do anything we want!" Ash walked up to the fellow trainer and patted him on the shoulder, "You're lucky, lad. Not everyone can handle the lack of oxygen in high altitudes 'cept for experienced hikers and trainers who frequently go to the mountains to train. You'll be surprised when you get to the top checkpoint to see most of the people who attempted to fly over this mountain collapse and give up. "After saying so, Ash entered his yearly training spot – Mt. Silver.

* * *

"Let's go over here!"

"This rock looks sturdy enough!"

"I'll climb first then you go!"

Voices filled with excitement were exchanged in the first big hall of the first level of Mt. Silver, where most of the participants were just getting started to find their own routes in the natural maze. Ash, who took his time entering, was still in his relaxed stance. He knew his way around the mountain and would waste no time going to the exit. While walking to his usual route, he could feel that a few groups were following him.

"-Hey, that's the guy who won both preliminary matches with one kit KOs. Let's follow him around. I'm pretty sure we can get through this part just fine if we follow him."

"That's him, that's him! The one who were just allowed two Pokémon for this round! He must be very capable to get toned down by the board of directors of the competition. He must know his way around here."

Slightly annoyed, Ash kept walking. He knew that eventually, he would shake off the people that were following him. It was only a matter of time given the structure of the mountain that is very dark and difficult to maneuver.

And like Ash had predicted, soon enough, he had lost them.

However, Ash still had a very bad feeling that something was not right. The caves felt different than the last time he had visited the mountain. Ash noticed that at his present time, there were a noticeable difference of how much less the Pokémon numbers, and how every time he encountered one, they would cower away.

"_This feels familiar."_ Ash thought. While managing his way through the natural rock formations he started to break out beads of sweat. Feeling overly warm, he took off his overcoat and hung it over his shoulders. Not long after, he found one of his many resting spots. It was a big opening, with a couple of flat rocks where he can sit on. Close to the flat rocks was a big pond with a narrow tunnel leading elsewhere. He sat on one of the rocks to take a breather.

"_I remember this pond being filled with water Pokémon. I wonder what happened to them?"_ Ash pondered about it for a second or two and then decided to shake it off. He just simply did not have the time to lounge around. Ash got closer to the pond to take a nice, cold sip of water. "Ugh! This is water is warm!" He looked at the puddle of water on his hands that are clasped together, and drank again from the pond regardless of the warmness of the water. "_I must be missing something here."_ He thought.

Ash continued his journey deeper into the caves of Mt. Silver. He noticed that he had taken an hour and a half to get to this point, like usual. Smiling to himself because of his punctuality, he tied his hair into his usual ponytail because the temperature was rising even more the deeper he went into the caves.

The young man hopped over some rocks and obstacles on his way to his second personal 'resting spot', occasionally looking back to confirm that nobody was following him. And indeed, there was no one. "It's hot! Very hot!" He said while wiping his sweat from his forehead. "It wasn't this hot last year and the year before… Can't say the same about the first time I was here though." Ash talked to himself while climbing a couple of elevated grounds. "That was the year I started training here, and the year I encountered that thing." He nodded to himself after he got to a level ground. Not long after, he chuckled to himself. "Encountered... right. More like I saw that thing and ran away. That thing was angry~."

After cleaning a bit of dirt from his pants, Ash encountered a wild Golbat. A first wild Pokémon in a while. While getting ready to flee from the bat Pokémon, the Golbat immediately charged for Ash. "Whoa, hey, wait! At least let me get ready!" Having no time for a proper dodge, all Ash could manage was to tilt his head backwards to avoid the Golbat smacking into his face. The Golbat flew away from him without a second thought. "Huh… That's weird. I was pretty sure that Golbat was heading for me." He resumed his walk shortly afterwards, getting closer to a fountain he used for resting while thinking how this was all too easy.

"_Maybe this is the calm before the storm."_ He thought. Suddenly, he had a theory that might explain the strangely high temperature that was present in the caves, but immediately dismissed it. "_No, no, that can't be true. It can't be that short of a period of time..."_

Getting closer and closer to the fountain, Ash thought out loud, "How long does it take for a Moltres to lay an egg after the last one, anyways..?"

* * *

Caves were not a new scenery to the group of experienced Pokémon trainers. Especially for the leader of the Pewter City gym who spent most of his time training in caves. Leading the group to search for the exit, Brock made a remark of the warm temperature he had been feeling since they got deeper into the cave. "Man, this cave is almost as hot as Blaine's gym."

"Tell me about it." Replied a younger trainer wearing spectacles. "How much water do you have left, Dawn? I think I'm almost out."

The blue-haired girl walking beside him let out a big sigh. "I'm almost out of water too… Let's hope we run into a water source or something so we can fill our water thermoses." Said Dawn while shaking her thermos to indicate how much water is left in the container. "I wonder how May and Misty are doing?" "Where did they go anyway? I haven't seen them since we went deeper from that big hall in the beginning." Brock asked while avoiding low ceilings.

"May met Drew in the entrance. She asked if they could go together and he said yes. She dragged Misty along with her." Max answered. "But who cares! We've got the Sinnoh champion going with us, so everything's going to be okay!" he said while wearing a big grin. "On that note, thanks for coming with us." Dawn said while turning to Cynthia.

"It's no problem, we just happen to be going the same way." The champion replied with a smile. "Besides, it's not a bad idea to travel in a group… Unlike that idiot who likes to go alone." She muttered the last sentence under her breath. "What was that?" Dawn asked. "Oh, it's nothing."

Whether it was fate or a coincidence, they were heading to the same place Ash was.

After going through several jagged paths and climbing over small cliffs inside the cave, the group had arrived at the fountain. "It's hot! Too hot!" shouted Max while pulling his shirt to allow some air to circulate. The first thing he noticed was the water source in the middle of the big room in the cave. "Hey! There's water over there! Let's fill our bottles up!"

"Oh yeah, you're right. Good job Max!" Brock praised the younger trainer. "It's never a problem for the great Max of Littleroot Town!" Max said while assuming a victory pose. "Let's not get cocky now." Brock said with a smile. "Hey, give me all your bottles; I'll fill them up for you." Offered the Pewter City Gym leader.

After gathering all the containers, Brock proceeded to the water source to collect some water. "Wow, it's even hotter here." He kneeled and placed the bottles on the ground. He took some water with his hands to drink first before filling the bottles. "Ouch ouch ouch! It's boiling hot!" He shouted.

Sensing something happened with Brock, Dawn shouted from where she was sitting with Max And Cynthia, which was quite a way back. "What's up, Brock?" "This water is boiling! It's undrinkable!" "What?" Max said in surprise. The young trainer saw Brock trying to gather all to bottles before he headed back to the group. Disappointed, he laid down on his back. "Oh man… Now what are we supposed to d-" He stopped before finishing his sentence.

"What's wrong, Max?" Dawn asked.

"A… Above…"

"What?"

"Brock, look out! Above you!" Max shouted with all his might.

Hearing his warning, all of them now were looking up, looking at the majestic sight of the Legendary Fire Bird of Kanto, ready to strike down at Brock.

* * *

Nearing his destination, Ash had little obstacles to go through before he could finally reach the fountain he found during his trainings in Mt. Silver. He was whistling to make himself forget about the heat that was getting to him. He was playing with his two PokeBall while leisurely walking down the straight path that would take him to the water source.

"Man, I hate those people on the board of directors. Why'd they have to agree on something so irrational anyways?" whined the trainer. "Why am I participating in this competition again? With the old man dead, I shouldn't have any reasons to participate…" He pondered about it for a while before coming to a conclusion. "Oh yeah, that's right, there's still the Winner's ceremony to watch out for."

After a couple of minutes, Ash arrived at a dead end, blocked by boulders. "Now, the only thing left is to get rid of these rocks, and I'll be at the fountain." He said while preparing himself to push the boulders away. After taking a stance, he kicked the boulders forward. The boulders crumbled, causing dirt to surface, forcing Ash to cover his face with his sleeves. When he regained his vision, he saw Moltres descending on a person who was lying on the ground motionless. "What the hell!" Ash shouted.

Pushed by his nature, he immediately dashed forward to help the man while quickly observing the situation. "_Damn! I can't make it in time to push the dude out of the way!" _Ash thought while taking off his glove. "_Well, if I can't save the guy…" _He used his right arm to boost himself up in the air, in the direction of the Fire bird. "I just have to take this Moltres away from him!"

* * *

"Brock! Look out! Above you!" Max shouted to warn his friend of the seemingly enraged Moltres. The Moltres was descending fairly quickly, ready to blast Brock out of the way. "We have to do something!" the two persons beside him nodded in comparison, and were getting ready to grab a PokeBall to have a Pokémon help out. When they were about to send their Pokémon out, the series of boulders on one side of the room suddenly crumbled.

They saw a man dressed in an overcoat came out of the rubble that immediately dashed towards Brock and the Moltres. Recognizing the outfit, Max shouted, "Ah! It's Thanatos!"

Thanatos jumped inhumanely high and tackled the Moltres' neck, while holding on to it. With the Moltres stunned, he shouted to Brock, "What are you doing? Run!" "Huh? Oh, right!" Woken up by the warning, Brock snapped out of it and ran away, picking up the bottles along the way. Making it back to where the group was standing, he tried to catch his breath. "Are you okay, Brock?" Max asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little bit shocked, that's all…"

Their attention was pulled back to the Moltres' that was swinging its neck wildly, trying to get the person off it. Losing his grip, Thanatos was thrown far back, hitting his back on a wall, creating an opening on the wall that oversees the forest outside. He forced himself to stand up to find himself on a staring match with the legendary Pokémon.

"You people standing over there!" he shouted. "There's a natural climbing spot right behind this Moltres!"

"H-Huh? Is he talking to us?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, who else is here in this room?" Thanatos answered. He was moving slowly to not agitate the Moltres. "The climbing spot takes you to the checkpoint up top! Just hug the wall!" He shouted.

"W-what?" Max asked in confusion.

"Just do as I say, dammit!"

"Let's do as he says and hug the wall, Max!" Brock shouted while running to the said spot while hugging the wall, followed by Dawn and a confused Max. "You too, Cynthia, come on!"

"O-oh, yeah…" replied the Sinnoh Champion while following the group.

Satisfied that all of them made it safely, Thanatos prepared himself to make a run for it. Noticing that the Moltres was trying to stand its ground as if trying to protect something, He picked up a rock and tossed it in the general direction of the Moltres. The legendary bird raised its right wing and smacked the rock away.

"That must be the egg he's trying to cover." Thanatos said out loud to himself. Believing that he had a decent plan to get away, he kneeled down to grab another rock.

Seeing that the human will do the same thing twice, the Moltres charged forward while unleashing a Fire Spin.

"Huh? Wait!" Immediately Thanatos strafed away from the fire move, and landed in a forward roll. Just as he was recovering from the roll, he looked up to find that the Moltres was again flying towards him with its wing shining, ready to strike him down. He knows this move all too well. "Not another Air Slash!" Knowing that evading backward would only make him an easier target for the Moltres; he once again jumped forward and rolled. The Moltres quickly turned around and shot its Flamethrower in the general direction of the trainer.

Having no momentum to dodge, all Thanatos could do was to assume a defensive position, that is, crossing his arms in an 'x' shape in front of his face. And surely enough, he was engulfed in fire. Fortunately for him, the Moltres kept going and tackled him out of the fire. However, with no control of his body in mid-air, he hit the back of his head on the cave walls, causing a bit of the ceiling to crumble. After a few seconds, he landed on his right arm and felt immense pain spreading through his right shoulder. Managing to sit up and leaning on the wall, he saw the fire bird looking down on him.

"You got me." He said to the Moltres. "You got me before I had the chance to use my right arm. Kudos to you, good sir." He commented with a weak smile. With faded vision, he noticed the egg glowing behind the Moltres, assuming a similar shape as the Pokémon standing in front of him. "Oh come on… Of all the times you can hatch, you can't do it sooner?"

Before losing consciousness, all Ash - otherwise known as Thanatos, could see was the majestic sight of two legendary fire Pokémon flying out of the cave through an opening, decorated in a dress of fire.

* * *

**Next chapter soon.**


	12. What?

**-Quidnam?-  
**

**Mt. Silver's Summit  
Resting & Checkpoint Area  
3:30 PM**

"Well, this guy is heavy." Said Brock while carrying Thanatos to a seemingly appropriate spot to place the downed person who fought a Moltres. Max was right beside him, checking if Thanatos is still alive. "Hey, why do we need to help this person anyway? We know he's working for Team Galactic." The young boy asked. "Cynthia insisted she was going to help him. We can't just leave her to face a Moltres alone, can we?" answered Brock.

"But the Moltres has already left when she went back inside."

"I wish I had seen that Moltres fly away from the mountain. If I did, wouldn't be doing this right now." After they found a good spot to lay Thanatos, Brock rested the trainer against a rock. "Give me your Pokedex, Max, so I can scan it to register our names in the scanner-thing."

Max gave him one raised eyebrow. "Scanner-thing?"

"You know what I mean. I wasn't listening to the representative." Brock shrugged. "What about Dawn and Cynthia?" Max asked. "They already did theirs before going back in to grab some water from the pool we came across." Said Brock while taking Max's pokedex, leaving for the scanner afterwards. "You should get that guy's Pokedex, too!" Brock said while walking away from them.

"Okay." Max searched Thanatos' pockets, gently to not startle the man. He found the Pokexed in the man's inner pocket, but when he was about to take it, his attention was diverted elsewhere. It was Thanatos' right arm. He remembered last time he saw the man; the right arm was covered by a glove.

"What's wrong, Max?" asked Brock while handing Max's Pokedex back. "Hey, Brock, look at his right arm."

Brock took a closer look and understood what Max's concern was. "Wow, isn't that something? He must've got in a really bad accident or something. Is it fully functional like a normal human hand?" Brock asked while looking at the arm. He spent some time looking at it.

"Oh yeah, his Pokedex is in his inner coat pocket. Left side." Max commented.

Brock reached to the unconscious person's pocket.

"The other pocket." Max added.

"Of course." Brock switched to look to the other pocket, and grabbed the Pokedex. "Now we have to scan this thing." After standing up, he could feel a cold grip on his arm. "Huh?"

"I think I can do that myself, thanks."

* * *

"AAH!" the Pewter City Gym Leader screamed because of the sudden turn of events.

"It's not like I'm a ghost or something, Brock." Said Thanatos while trying to regain his balance after being knocked unconscious by a legendary bird. "Can I have my Pokedex back?"

"Ah sure, here it is."

"Thanks. Did you carry me up here?" asked Thanatos.

"Yeah, Cynthia just insisted that we save you. Wonder what she's thinking." Max answered with an annoyed face. "You better be grateful."

"It's not like _you _carried me up here right, Max?"

"Well it was Brock, but-"

"So the thanks goes to Brock." He turned to face Brock. "Thank you again." Thanatos said with a smile. Max just pouted.

"It was no problem, but you should really thank Cynthia for being so stubborn. She was going to carry you herself if I didn't interfere." Said Brock. Thanatos could feel himself smiling at that statement. Such a sweet and caring girl Cynthia is. "I guess I should. But I'd better scan my Pokedex first."

Shortly after leaving to scan his Pokedex, Thanatos came back to the group. "So where's Cynthia and Dawn?" he asked. "They went to grab some drinks from the water fountain down below where you fainted. They should be coming back here shortly." Brock answered while checking his backpack for some small snacks. He found some energy bars and offered them to Thanatos and Max. They gladly accept. And then Brock realized that something was off. "Hey, did we ever tell you our names? Dawn's, too."

Realizing his stupid mistake, Thanatos lost his composure a little. It was comforting for him to be with his old friends after such a long time. He was too careless. "Well, umm, how can I not know your names? You're both in the Grand Conference! You, Brock, are Pewter City's Gym Leader!" explained Thanatos. He shifted his gaze to Max. "And you! You.. are Norman's kid! Saw a couple of your league matches on TV, you're pretty good, you."

"Aw shucks, you're embarrassing me!" said Max with a laugh.

"Hmm, I guess so." Brock bit his share of the energy bar. "So you were a trainer too? Why are you in Team Galactic?"

"Well, I was kind of indebted to someone in the company. So I worked there to try to destroy it from the inside." Answered Thanatos while leaning on a rock. "Ah, I see. Is it safe to tell us all this?" Brock shot another question. "Yeah, I've quit from Galactic, so there's no point in hiding all this. Besides, you guys all had your share in fighting the team, right? Might as well find out that they're getting active again." Explained Thanatos while finishing the last bits his last piece of the energy bar.

"I guess that's a good thing." Max added.

"Yeah." _There's also no point in hiding my identity anymore, now that Raito's gone. I'm going to need all the help I can get to take Cyrus down._ He thought to himself. He glanced over at Max. He remembered the times when he was travelling to all the places in Hoenn with Brock, May and Max. And then there's Sinnoh, with Dawn. And one of his most precious times, Kanto, with Misty. He terribly missed his friends. Missed being their friend. Missed all the good times that he could have done with them if it were not for him.

Cyrus.

Before he could start his long train of thought about hating Cyrus, he realized something. "Hey, Max, where's your big sister and the leader of Cerulean City's gym?" he asked, careful about his word choices.

"Oh, May and Misty? May met Drew earlier. They haven't met in a couple of years, so they decided to catch up. Misty was dragged with her." Max explained. "Oh? I thought Drew and May was in Johto together? And since when were May and Misty such good friends?" Thanatos asked. "Well, many things happened." Max shrugged.

Seeing Brock's confused face, he realized that he was not supposed to know all that information for just being a 'stranger-from-Team-Galactic-who-turned-out-to-be-a-good-guy'. Thanatos smiled to himself. Smiled to _Ash, _who he missed being. Not a professional from Galactic. He reached out to his pack, where he pulled out a pouch. Sounds of small metal could be heard from inside the pouch. And Brock was a good guy to have on his side, a guy who can keep secrets. Sometimes.

He took a silver octagon shaped badge, which represented the Pewter Gym. He tossed it over to Brock, who was startled a little, but barely managing to catch it. He looked up in surprise. "You challenged the Pewter City Gym?"

Thanatos responded with a grin. "First badge in my entire life. The leader's old man had to help me to win against him."

Brock looked at the badge again as if he just remembered something important.

"Oh, cool! Brock uses rock-type Pokemon right? What Pokemon did you use?" Max asked in excitement. Thanatos figured he still had the outmost interest in Pokemon.

"At the time, I was just a rookie trainer. And the leader had only a Geodude and an Onyx that was ready. So I used the only ones I had that are good for the battle. A Pidgeotto and my Pikachu." Being too engrossed in telling his own story, Thanatos did not notice that Dawn and Cynthia were already finished taking water and have been listening to his story also.

"But you were in a serious type disadvantage! How did you manage to win?" Max added to the series of questions.

"My Pidgeotto, pulled all his strength and eventually won against the Geodude. But was knocked out afterwards by the Onyx." He smiled to himself remembering that his Pidgeotto had evolved into a Pidgeot, and wondered if Pidgeot was happy out in the wilds. Maybe it was time to check on how he's doing. "Anyways, my Pikachu was getting utterly overpowered by the Onyx, and we were on the brink of defeat. Until Pikachu hit the sprinklers with an electric attack, causing the Onyx to be drenched."

Brock just stayed quiet during the entire time, listening to his story.

"So my Pikachu unleashed his strongest Thundershock, and won."

"Ooh! You brought your Pikachu with you, right? Can I see him? Can I see him?" Max asked 'nicely'.

"Sure, I kept him in a Pokeball, even though he absolutely hates being in it." Thanatos answered with a smile, reaching to his belt. He showed his Pokeball in the direction of Max and Brock, showing the distinctive lighting mark on the top half. Brock looked at Thanatos in a disbelief, which Thanatos returned with a wink.

He released his Pikachu. The Pikachu looked annoyed when it was released, ready to complain to his trainer about being contained in the Pokeball. But the Pikachu caught the presence of the Sinnoh Champion, and immediately ran to her and jumped to her shoulder. Cynthia patted his head which was returned by a cute growl.

Having noticed that Cynthia and Dawn were back, and the quiet sobs of Brock shedding tears of joy, Thanatos walked up to the Sinnoh Champion. "Hey, I'm glad-"

Before he can finish his sentence, he was greeted by a hard slap on the cheek from Cynthia.

"-.. to see you." He rubbed his cheek to ease the pain. "What was that for!" he screamed. Then he could see that Cynthia's eyes was getting teary, and he realized he had done something wrong. "H-Hey, what's wrong?"

"You know how worried I was about you! When you didn't come to the checkpoint even after the Moltres flew away.. If.. If something had happened to you.." Cynthia started sobbing.

Dawn and Max looked at each other in confusion, and looked at Brock who was also sobbing. "Hey, Brock, what's wrong with you?" Max asked. Brock answered while still immersed in his mix of sobs.

Ash pulled Cynthia and hugged her, causing Pikachu to jump off. He patted her head while she leaned on his chest while still sobbing. "I'm still here, aren't I? I'll never be gone, not while I'm still with you." Ash said with a big grin. Still angry, Cynthia could not help but smile, throwing weak little punches on Ash's chest to show her protest of her boyfriend's rash actions. "Ash Ketchum, you idiot. Don't ever make me worry like that again" Said Cynthia while calming down.

Quickly realizing what Cynthia just said, Ash, who was trying to conceal his identity to the other two, could not think of anything to say other than, "..What?"

Like someone who just screamed on top of a mountain, he was echoed by Dawn's "What!" and another "Whaaaat!" from Max. The combo was broken by Brock who yelled "Ash" on top of his lungs while running to give Ash a big hug.


	13. Carmine

**-Carmine-**

**Foggy Clearing  
Checkpoint Area  
4:00 PM**

Ash had been hoping the moment when he reveals that he was still in fact, well alive, to be glorious and touching, but reality proved otherwise. A certain woman kept making unexpected situations. Not that he minded, of course. With his father figure in Team Galactic gone, things could be worse.

The group had gotten off the mountain fairly quickly, going down on the sides with the suitable choices of Pokémon. Since they gradually went up the mountain, they had gotten used to the thinner air pressure on the mountains, making it easy to go down without dealing with any sudden changes in the air pressure, if one were to go up immediately and try to scale down the mountain afterwards. Ash saw many emergency response teams being dispatched on the summit, tending to the many people who attempted to fly over Mt. Silver. The height of the monument was not to be underestimated.

After wasting some time on the summit explaining how he was still alive and telling his friends to save the tears for later, Ash had flown down with his second choice of Pokémon, Salamence. The flying and dragon Pokémon had made quick work of the descent, followed by Cynthia's agile Garchomp, Dawn's Togekiss, Brock's Steelix, and finally, Max's Vigoroth. Max found the rest of the group were waiting for him on the checkpoint area. "What? At least I'm still faster than those guys." Max commented while pointing to the people who were still trying to go down the side of the mountain, following the lead of Ash's group.

The five of them scanned their Pokedex on the available scanner, and decided to split up for half an hour to re-stock, since apparently the committee had set up shop for items and equipment on the clearing before the Forest's entrance. Ash, who had no real need to buy items, was just waiting for his friends before he noticed someone who was out of place. A person wearing a motorcycle helmet, with a distinctive light blue tint. A member of Bravo Team.

* * *

Ash walked up to him while trying to remember his name. He sat down on a chair next to the person from Bravo. "Carmine, correct?" "Yessir, Tony Carmine it is. One of Bravo team. And you must be _THE_ legendary Thanatos." Carmine replied. "Yes, I am. What brings a member of Bravo here, to the middle of nowhere?" Ash asked while looking around to make sure that nobody was listening in. "Quick update and escort. I was given the mission to escort you 'till you reach the objective." Carmine answered with enthusiasm. Ash raised an eyebrow. "What objective?" "Didn't you get an update on your Pokedex after you scanned it?"

Ash checked his Pokedex to see if an objective was added. "Ah, you're right." Ash flipped through the explanation. "Retrieve object in Fogbound Lake? What the hell?" said Ash in annoyance. "Why can't we just battle like a normal competition? Isn't that the initial point of the Conference?" Carmine looked at him and explained, "Well, Cyrus is trying to get the participants to retrieve this.. Artefact. It seems this thing, this object, can open the dimension rift, just like when he captured all the three legendaries from Sinnoh four years ago. I reckon he already got one in Treeshroud Forest."

Ash remembered the papers he obtained back in Indigo Plateau. "What are the artefacts called?" he asked. "Time Gears, if I remember correctly."

_Then I was right to take those papers. _Ash thought. But something just did not click. "Then why did he re-capture the three legendaries again? Doesn't it seem.. Redundant, if he can open the rift with just these… gears?"

"Well that's the thing." Carmine said while looking for a chair close to him. Having found one, he sat down and continued. "The Red Chain, that he made four years ago was incomplete. He realized that after the incident with you. After, he got out of jail, of course. So in a way, he is thankful to you." Ash stopped him before he continued. "You know of my past?" "Yes, the leader of Bravo Team told me. Is that a bad thing?" he asked back. "Not really, no. I didn't know she told other people." Ash commented. "Well, yes, she can be a bit of a blabbermouth sometimes." Carmine added. Ash smiled at how true that was. At this point, there were no more advantages in hiding his past. "Please continue."

"Yes. Coming back to the Red Chain. The Chain would not have been sufficient to control the Pokémon that reigns over the dimensional rift. And Cyrus would have to capture that Pokémon before he could shape the world as he saw fit. And the chances of that happening were pretty slim, even for Cyrus." Carmine paused to take a sip of his drink. He took off his helmet to drink and put it back on again. Ash wondered what the point for the helmet was, but decided to ask later. "I see. But how does this relate to the Time Gears?" Ash asked.

"The Time Gears, if collected alone, stops the motion of time for the Gear's region. For example, in Treeshroud forest, I was the one to take the Gear. And time just stopped. Even a dew that falling from a leaf stopped in mid-air." Ash raised an eyebrow again. "So what's the point in gathering all the gears? That would just stop all the flow of time everywhere. The world would be non-existent."

"That, is if you get the Time Gears _only_. What if you gather all the Gears, and make use of the Red Chain on top of it? The Time Gears are very powerful objects." Carmine asked. Ash snapped his finger and answered quickly, "Control over the Pokémon in the Dimensional Rift." Carmine nodded. "Exactly." "Then we have to return that Gear you got back to Treeshroud. And Protect the Gear here, on Fogbound, from the hundreds of trainers that are going to be looking for it. But how are we going to do it?"

Carmine placed his bag in front of him and opened it. He revealed 24 Master Balls. "The objective didn't specify what the 'object' was." Ash gave a light hearted laugh. "You're right. How careless can Cyrus be?" "Cyrus didn't personally see to organizing this round. He gave it to our team's executive representative. So we don't need to worry so much about this round." Carmine answered. "The guy with the chocolate flavoured cigar?" "That's him." Ash could not help but to laugh at how Bravo Team was acting. The once loyal dogs of Galactic, now planning to defect. "So you're really planning to turn your back on Galactic?" Carmine sat back and crossed his legs, "Only the Vice-Commander stayed, the one who attacked you in the city. He is one mad bastard. And as thankful as we are to Galactic for picking us up from our miserable lives before, we don't like to die just for Cyrus. Especially after finding out he was about to reshape the world in his own views. A new universe just for him? No thanks, we're good in this one. Where we can smile full of spirit, where one care for another. The rest of the team think so too."

Ash smiled and noticed that he was supposed to meet up with his group. "Come with me, Carmine. Meet the rest of my group, and into Foggy Forest we go."

* * *

**Foggy Forest  
Entrance  
4:30 PM**

Ash and Carmine found that they were not the first to be at the entrance. Max was already there, re-stocked and ready to go. "Hey Ash! Who's the person with the helmet?" he asked.

"His name is Carmine, also defecting from Team Galactic." Ash answered easily. "Oh, is that right? Well nice to meet you, Carmine! My name's Max!" said the young trainer happily. "Ditto." Carmine replied.

"You're not supposed to trust people that easily, Max." Dawn said behind them, with Brock and Cynthia with her. "For all we know, he can be another person working for Cyrus, but is pretending to work with Ash! Especially someone who's wearing a helmet when he doesn't have a bike with him." Dawn commented. Ash shrugged and tried to explain, "Well Carmine's trustworthy, believe me. So I believe you all have read the update on your Pokedex?"

Brock grabbed his Pokedex and read it again, "Yeah, but what 'object' are we supposed to look for?" Ash noticed that there were a couple of trainers who were listening in to their conversation, because of the presence of the Sinnoh Champion, and the apparent reputation he had built in the Conference. He walked over close to them, and said out loud, "Master Balls, I heard. Placed on top of Fogbound Lake." He saw that the trainers heard him and started whispering to themselves. He looked at Carmine and smiled. Carmine nodded in return.

"Well, that's that. Let's go in the forest." Ash concluded.

"Can I ask a question, before we go?" Carmine raised a hand. "Isn't that the Sinnoh Champion with you?" he pointed at Cynthia who was standing beside Ash.

"Yes, I am. Is there something wrong?" Cynthia answered. Carmine shrugged. "No, I was just wondering why you are here. I thought Elite Trainers prefer to be the Lone-wolf types." Ash pulled Cynthia and put his arm around her. "Well, we're dating. And she doesn't want me out of her sights to do something reckless." Said Ash with a big grin on his face. "H-Hey!" being caught by surprise, Cynthia couldn't really say anything, and she didn't exactly mind the sudden show of affection.

"You really have to tell us how that happened, Ash." Max added. "Brock definitely needs some advice on how to get girls." Max looked at Brock to find him sulking in an invisible corner muttering why Ash got a beautiful lady when he had no luck with them.

"Oh really?" Carmine commented in surprise. "Wow, The team leader would be jealous if she finds out."

"What did you say, Carmine?" Ash asked.

"Nothing, really. Let's go."

* * *

**Foggy Forest End Path  
5:30 PM**

"I can hear water." Said Ash while avoiding the overgrown branches. Visibility was absurdly bad, with being not able to see more than 3 meters in front. "_There's a reason it's called Foggy Forest, I guess." _ "We close to the exit, Brock?"

"We should be, Ash. I'm pretty sure we followed the map correctly." Brock answered about three heads behind him.

The group walked some more for a few minutes, before Ash stopped to inspect a red orb he found lying on the side of the path. "What's wrong, Ash? Not feeling well?" Cynthia asked, the look of concern clearly displayed on her face. "You guys go on ahead. I'll be right there behind you." Ash let Cynthia stay with him, while the others went on ahead to scout the area.

He looked at the red orb, its properties shining like the sun with a beautiful red and orange color. He touched it, and then a dizzy spell rushed his head like a wave in a tsunami. His body felt weak, and he dropped to his knees, his vision gone.

**…**

"_Over here! I found the stone!" a voice called out. "Really? Lucky us!" another voice answered. "See, I got it! I found the Drought Stone!" the voice said again, excited. "Now, let's go back to that Groudon Statue."_

"_Here's the Groudon Statue. I have to put it in the Groudon's heart.. Here it is! Am I good or what!" the person laughed heartily, and the sound of him putting the stone on the slot was heard._

"_We did it! We actually did it! It's lifting!"_

"_Good job, partner. The fog is lifting."_

**...**

"..Ash, are you okay?" he heard a voice coming to him as he regained his vision. "Ugh.. Yeah, just a bit dizzy, that's all." He tried to stand up, however, losing balance on the way up and stumbled forward again. Cynthia tried to catch him. "Are you really okay? Maybe we should get you to see a doctor." She asked. "I'm fine, really. Just was a bit dizzy, like I said." He tried standing up again, this time, successfully. "See? I'm fine!" he said with a smile on his face. "Let's go where the others are."

"Yeah, that may be a good idea." Said the Champion.

Ash looked at the stone again. _"Drought stone…" _He thought to himself. _"That was like the vision of the past I had in Indigo Plateau, but I could only hear some voices this time. Wonder what those meant."_

"Ash? Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there." He bent down and picked up the stone.

After walking a short distance, they found the rest of the group standing before a statue of a Pokémon. Max noticed them and waved. "Hey Ash! Over here! We found something!" Ash walked over to them, and saw what Max was talking about. There was a Groudon Statue, standing majestically. There was an inscription in the bottom support, which was half sunken into the ground. The whole Statue by itself was covered in moss. Cynthia went forward to read the inscription. "Reignite the life that burned within Groudon. Then the sky shall be set ablaze with the sun's heat. Then the path shall be revealed."

"I'm surprised you can read that." Ash commented. "Of course I can. What do you think I did in all of those ruins I visited?" Cynthia said with a sly smile. Ash smiled proudly at her.

Ash turned to Carmine, who was just coming back after he looked around. "What did you find?"

"I made a full revolution, it seems. I was going around the base of the land formation in the center. Lead me right back to you guys. Can't see a damned thing because of the fog." Carmine answered. "Maybe you should take off your helmet." Dawn commented. "Hah. Funny. Did _you _find anything?" Carmine retorted. "Well… No." "Then the helmet stays on."

Ash looked at the inscription again and remembered what Cynthia said. "Groudon's heart…" he muttered. "Did you say something, Ash?" Brock asked. "What are you going to do with the statue?" Ash went closer and inspected it on a closer look. He looked for anything that had a resemblance to a dent or a slot. After a bit of searching, he found a slot on the back of the statue. If the vision was anything, then there was no harm in trying. "Here goes." He inserted the stone, and the Groudon's eyes shone red.

"Ash, what did you do!" Max asked while running away from the statue.

The fog was starting to lift, and they could see that they were below a giant rock formation, that stood tall on top of them, supported by a structure in the middle. An upside down mountain, one might say. Ash looked behind him towards the foot of the formation, and saw an entrance to a cave. "Brock, what are the chances of that cave leading to the top?" Brock looked over to the opening. "It's possible." "Then we're going in there." Said Ash while taking out his mobile phone. He took a picture of the path leading to the cave opening.

"What's the picture for?" Dawn asked. "For us to go there. We need to memorize the path to that opening for when the fog comes back." Ash answered. "But we can go right now and we'll have no problems!"

Ash smiled at her. "Not when I take the stone out." He took the Drought Stone out of the Statue, and the fog came back. "Why did you do that?" Max protested. "Now we can't see anymore!" "But we already know where to go. I don't want the other trainers having a jolly good time strolling in here when we did all the hard work."

"Makes sense." Brock added.

Ash threw the stone back to the path where he found it. "Well, let's go in that thing and retrieve the object."


	14. Time Gears  I

**Time Gears - I**

**Steam Cave  
5:45PM**

"It sure is hot in here." Ash commented while wiping off a bead of sweat that was starting to form. The party had just entered the cave, but they could already feel the change in the temperature. The atmosphere felt dry, and heat could be felt entering their lungs with every breath they take. "Huh.. Wouldn't want to fall in _that_." Said Ash while pointing to a nearby water pool that seemed to be boiling.

While making their way through the naturally made maze, the party encountered a number of Pokémon living in the cave. It was apparent that the cave and the Pokémon living inside it had made little to no previous contacts with humans.

"There seems to be a lot of fire type Pokémon here." Max spontaneously commented.

"You don't say, little guy?" Carmine sarcastically replied.

"Who're you calling little guy, helmet wearing freak?" Max retorted.

"Whoa, sorry, I didn't know you were so sensitive about it. It was just a little joke. Lighten up, will you?" Carmine apologized, which seemed to be a genuine one.

"I'll have you know, freak, that not only I'm _not_ a little guy, but I also qualified for the Grand Conference! And at such a young age!" the trainer from Petalburg confidently claimed.

"Is he always like this?" Carmine asked while turning his head in the direction of the rest of the party.

Brock laughed and shrugged. "You'll get used to it."

"Ah, wonderful." Carmine laughed it off and walked on ahead, now beside Ash.

"Done with your idle chatters?" Ash asked.

"Well, I guess. Why?" Carmine answered.

"We've got a split here." Ash replied while pointing to the two paths in front of them. "I'm guessing we'll have to split up."

"It seems so." Carmine walked up to the path on the right, "I'm taking this path. Anyone want to come with me?"

Ash, in response, approached the path on the left. "Guess I'll be going here."

"Then I'm taking the left one also." Cynthia promptly responded.

"Then I, Dawn and Max will take the right one, with Carmine. Right guys?" Brock replied almost immediately. Max agreed, while Dawn gave a little bit of a protest.

"But Brock, I wanted to go with Ash!"

Brock grabbed Dawn's shoulder and dragged her towards Carmine and Max. "Yeah, yeah, plenty of time to catch up later. We'll see you guys at the top!"

Ash smiled and waved, followed by his Pikachu doing the same thing. "Be careful on your way up."

* * *

The couple walked down the maze in no hurry, seemingly wanting to cherish the chance to be alone that was given to them. "It's been a while since it's just the two of us." Said Ash, breaking the silence first.

"Yeah, things have been kind of.. hectic." Cynthia replied.

The two walked some more, with Ash catching Cynthia taking glimpses at him a couple of times. "Something wrong, Cynthia?" he asked.

"Oh, no, not really." She answered. "I was just wondering if you've been okay.. Ever since that.. you know. Ever since Dr. Raito died."

Ash smiled and avoided her gaze. "It's been hard, sure. But I want to move on. I _have_ to move on. And if I don't succeed in stopping Cyrus.. I'm scared that his death would have been in vain." He answered, his voice cracking. "There hasn't been a day where I don't regret being so careless that day."

Cynthia looked at Ash and saw that he was holding in his tears. She held his hand and leaned against him. " You don't have to hold it in, you know.. Men can cry too."

Ash cleared his throat and looked at Cynthia. He patted her head while smiling. "Thanks, Cynthia."

The two continued the rest of their walk in silence, before finally witnessing sunlight from the end of the cave.

They exited the cave, to see a rocky clearing leading to a small path. The path seemed to make its way to a body of water. "That must be Fogbound Lake up ahead." Ash said. "We should hurry."

Right as they were about to step on the path, a tremor appeared. They stepped back from the path, only to see a large, red Pokémon emerging from seemingly _nowhere_. A massive, bipedal, dinosaur-like creature with a gray underside and covered in red, segmented plates of thick skin which act as armor stood in front of them, ready to crush them within a moment's notice.

The place had suddenly risen in temperature, along with the appearance of the Pokémon, which Ash had figured to be the guardian of the lake that he had read from the reports he found.

The two were frozen in place. The Pokémon had four claws on each hand, three claws on each foot, and four dozer-like blades on the end of its large tail. Ash had seen this Pokémon before. _"Impossible.. One of the three weather trio.." _He thought to himself.

* * *

"Impossible! Why is Groudon here?" Cynthia whispered to Ash while stepping back from the legendary fire Pokémon.

"How am I supposed to know that? I'm as shocked as you are!" Ash replied. He was also stepping back cautiously, careful to not anger the Groudon. However, it was all too late. The Groudon raised one of its arms and smashed in onto the ground, causing debris to fly towards them. Instinctively, Ash dove towards Cynthia to cover her from said debris.

Ash recovered quickly, and grabbed one of his Pokeball. "Tsch, it seems I have no choice." He threw the Pokeball high in the air to have it release his Pokémon. "Salamence, go!" he shouted. The Pokeball proceeded to reveal a blue dragon type Pokémon. "Dragonbreath!" he shouted once more, instructing his Salamence.

The blue dragon let out a powerful beam from its mouth, hitting the legendary Pokémon on the belly. The Groudon groaned, however, regaining its footing shortly after. Groudon opened its mouth, revealing a shiny ball of light, ready to be released. "It's going to use Solarbeam! Salamence, get out of the way, it can shoot the Solarbeam right away because of the drought it brings about!" Ash instructed his Salamence without any hesitation. The Groudon fired its Solarbeam, however, Salamence dodged it with amazing reflexes. "Quick, follow up with another Dragonbreath!" the trainer shouted.

The Salamence released its Dragonbreath attack, but to no avail. The attack went right _through_ the Groudon. It looked like the Groudon vanished into thin air for a millisecond, but then returned again. "What.. What is this!" said Ash in disbelief. The Groudon flickered a couple more times, before disappearing completely. "What the hell just happened?" he uttered, still not understanding what he had just seen.

"Thanatos! Are you alright?" A person from behind asked while running towards him. It was Carmine and the others.

"Ah, Carmine.. Yeah, I'm fine." Ash answered while looking at Cynthia, seemingly regaining her composure.

"What was that Pokémon just now? Was that a Groudon?" Carmine asked with great curiosity.

"Apparently it was.. It just disappeared though." Ash answered with a low voice. "I don't know myself."

Carmine looked around and shrugged. "Ah, your arm, it's bleeding." He said while pointing at Ash's arm. "That's quite the wound you got there."

"Ah, you're right." Said Ash, just noticing the wound he got. "I must've gotten it when that bloody thing hurled rocks at us."

"Let me see!" Cynthia pushed Carmine aside and immediately tried to bandage up his arm with the first aid kit she had brought for the round. "You've lost so much blood!" she cried in worry.

"Ah, I'll be fine." Ash smiled to her while letting her treat his arm. "It's much better than letting a lady's face get injured." He commented casually while patting her head.

Cynthia immediately looked down to hide her beet red face upon hearing his comment, and protested. "You idiot.. You're so smug! Trying to act like a cool knight!"

"Well, it seems like they'll be fine." Said Carmine while letting out a sigh. Brock returned to his invisible corner for another round of insta-depression.

* * *

**Fogbound Lake  
6:15 PM**

Now reunited, the party continued on the path and arrived on Fogbound Lake. The sun was beginning to set and can be seen over the horizon of the lake. Far in the center of the lake was a green metallic object, shining over the lake. "This view isn't half bad." Said Ash while looking for a place to sit down. His Pikachu agreed, jumping off his shoulder and walking to the edge of the lake. "Be careful Pikachu, you don't want to fall in the lake." Ash warned his best friend.

"Hey, Thanatos." Carmine tapped Ash's shoulder. "There's something coming over there." He pointed at the path they went through earlier, noticing a presence of a Pokémon hidden somewhere in the path. "Quickly, place the Master Balls somewhere so the others can find it. I'll try to stall this Pokémon if it comes out." Whispered Ash to Carmine. The former Galactic member quickly jumped into the shallow shore of the lake and pretended to look for something.

"What are you doing, Carmine?" Max asked upon seeing Carmine looking for something in the water.

"The objective, whatever it was." Carmine answered.

"Then count us in to help." Brock said while coming over to help, followed by Dawn and Cynthia.

The trainers looked for the objective all over the place before Carmine thought it was a good time to drop some of the Master Balls, letting Max find one of them. Excited, Max shouted loud to tell everyone of his findings. The others, now aware what to look for, followed suit to look for other precious balls. Not long after, they had found all the Master Balls scattered around by Carmine.

"This is a precious item, isn't it?" Cynthia commented while inspecting the Master Ball she found.

"I hope they let us keep it!" said Max in excitement.

"Ash, Carmine, have you found it yet?" Brock asked.

"Not yet." Ash answered. "Tell you what, why don't you guys go on ahead and finish this round, we'll be right behind you. I'm sure you guys are all tired. We're probably going to find it sooner anyway, we'll be right behind you."

After some convincing pretty words from Ash, the rest had finally agreed to leave first. Now left alone with Carmine, the two looked at the object at the center of the lake.

"So that must be the Time Gear." Said Ash while stretching his back.

"Yeah. Strangely mythical, isn't it?" Carmine added.

"_So you are after the Time Gear." _A voice came from behind them. "_I'm afraid I cannot let you do that."_

The two turned around to see a Gardevoir approaching them. "So it was you, the one who was hiding in the path." Ash said while walking towards the psychic Pokémon. "But rest assured, we're not here to take the Time Gear. Rather, we're here to protect it."

"_I find that hard to believe." _The Gardevoir answered.

"Is this Gardevoir speaking to us via telepathy?" Carmine asked in confusion.

"Yeah, it's not that uncommon for psychic Pokémon."

Ash explained the situation to the guardian of the lake. About Cyrus, the Time Gears, and how many trainers are going to come up to the lake in search for something. Believing the story told, the Gardevoir agreed to hand out Master Balls to the trainers who made it to the lake after fighting the Groudon, who the two learned, to be an illusion made by the Gardevoir to protect the lake from unwanted guests.

"_So it was you who took the Time Gear from Treeshroud Forest?" _The Gardevoir asked while looking at Carmine.

"Yes. At that time, I was still under Cyrus' commands. No longer will I be a dog for Team Galactic." He answered. "That is why, after this, Thanatos and I are going to Treeshroud Forest to return the gear to its rightful place."

The Gardevoir turned to them and made an expression that looked like a smile. "_Please do so. And let us hope time will return to the Forest."_

After apologizing for the ruckus and trouble, the two headed back to the resting point to stash in their Master Balls.

* * *

"Aah, that took quite a while." Said Ash after finally being done from the formalities of the second Round. He was now through to the third round, which consists of Pokémon battles among the 24 trainers left in the competition. Finally, he thought.

"Shame they didn't let us keep the Master Balls." Max said in disappointment. "I really hoped they would. I mean, think of the possibilities! We can catch _anything _ we want with that thing! Man, they're so stingy." The young trainer kicked a pebble in response.

"At least they provided transportation back to the hotels." Brock added while checking his map. "But I didn't know they had a road leading up to this place." He looked around to check which route the transports were going to take them.

"They don't." Carmine chimed in. "It's going to be off-road. Bumpy."

"So when's the next round going to start?" Ash asked while taking out his Pokedex.

Brock looked at the tournament schedule he had in his pack. "In four days, I think."

"Hey, Ash!" Dawn called Ash after being quiet for some time. "You still haven't told us how you're still alive, and where you've been for the last four years. I think it's time to do some explaining, mister."

"Ah, well.. I'll tell you about that later. Right now, I have to go somewhere." Ash answered as he got up. "Let's go Carmine."

"Lead on, boss." Said Carmine as he walked with Ash.

"Ash, where are you going?" Cynthia asked.

"I'll tell you later! See you in a couple of days!" He replied while waving.

"Geez.. He always disappears like that."


	15. Time Gears  II

**..Dusknoir..**

**Treeshroud Forest  
3:00 AM**

Treeshroud Forest, once known for its miraculously lush forest, filled with tall trees and a natural habitat full of energy stood lies ahead of them. However, all they can see in front was a completely grey-turned area, a shell of its former glory.

The forest provided no color, no signs of life. All the Pokémon were frozen in their places, as if stopped by an otherworldly power. With the eerie atmosphere surrounding them, they were worried. Ash looked around once more to see if he can find any life in the forest. However, his searches were fruitless.

"This is absurd." He said with great concern. "I could have never imagined that such an important piece of artefact exists."

"Neither have I." Carmine added. He grabbed a leaf from a tree branch. The leaf was gray in color, like everything else. It disintegrated shortly after he detached it from the branch. "What the hell just happened?"

Ash, who had been watching, did the same. He took a leaf from a nearby branch, and the leaf followed suit. Disintegrating, like it had never existed before. "This is.. Scary, to say the least." He looked closely at a falling water droplet from a nearby tree. "It must have been early in the morning when you took the Time Gear out."

"How did you know?"

"This water bud right here.. It formed on the leaf. Usually the only time natural condensation happens is at dawn, or in the mornings." He explained. He touched the droplet, and like the leaves, it disintegrated quickly. "Let's not touch anything unnecessary and let's not try to move anything from their places right now. We might interfere with the flow of time."

Carmine raised an eyebrow, although not visible as it is hidden behind his helmet. "The flow of time?"

Ash nodded and started to walk again. "I believe it's not natural to take out the Time Gear. This wasn't supposed to happen. That's why this place is so hidden, out of man's reaches. I have no idea how the man that wrote the research report managed to pinpoint the location of this place. Even we had a hard time getting to this place and we knew the location already." He continued. "I'm just saying, that by taking out the Time Gear from its rightful place, we humans have distorted the natural flow of time."

Carmine turned his head to take a better look around. "I didn't really pay attention when I took that Gear.. But it's scary all right. Looks like someone paralyzed time and space."

"Hence the name _Time Paralysis_, no?"

"Time paralysis?" Carmine asked.

"That's what the report called it." Ash answered casually.

They continued to walk in the forest for some time, before finally reaching the spot where Carmine had taken the Time Gear. They stopped in an open clearing, a circle formed by the trees around them. A rock was located in the middle.

"Is that where you found it?" Ash asked while investigating the rock.

"Yeah, I found it floating above the rock." Carmine replied.

"Floating?"

Carmine nodded. "As if the rock is the opposite side of a magnet."

"Well, I guess I can't be surprised anymore, considering the things that have happened." Said Ash, sighing. "So, go ahead. Place it back."

"Will do." Carmine walked up to the rock and took out the Time Gear from his pack. He held it above the rock, just like how he found it days before. He let go of the Gear, only to be answered with the Gear falling down to their feet.

"What just happened?" Ash asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Well.. It's not staying up." The other answered.

"Yes, I can see that. Try again?" ash suggested.

"Sure." Carmine picked up the Gear and held it above the rock again. "Maybe I have to put the bottom on the rock?" he said to himself. He lowered it gently and let the bottom of the Gear touch the rock. He let go, with the same result. "Well.. shit."

"What the hell! Let me try." Ash stepped up and tried to return the Time Gear to its rightful place, however, with the same result as Carmine.

Carmine tilted his head to see the Gear had fallen to Ash's feet. "Well, this place is royally screwed, isn't it?"

"What the hell! Now what are we supposed to do!" Ash snapped. He sat down on the rock to give himself some space to think.

Carmine followed and sat down on the grass. "Do you still have that report? The one you found in that café." He asked. "Maybe it has some answers in it."

Ash snapped his finger and reached for his pack. "You're right. I haven't read the whole thing." He took out a stash of paper and started reading while Carmine laid his head down to catch some rest.

* * *

Ash let out a sigh and placed the papers down. He looked over at Carmine, who seemed to be sleeping. He came over to Carmine and slapped the helmet the other had on. "Wake up, I'm done reading."

"Huh..? Right, right." Carmine groaned in protest as he tried to sit up. "I haven't been getting much sleep recently." He crawled to a nearby tree and rested his back against it. "So, what have you got?"

"Good news or bad news first?" Ash offered.

"Bad." The other answered.

"Actually, I kind of have to start with the good news." Said Ash while scratching his head.

"Then why _ask_?"

"Alright. According to what I've just read, once you remove the Time Gear from its original place, returning it back won't do anything good." Ash explained. "But, there _is_ a way to return time and lift the Time Paralysis." He continued. "Are you listening?"

"I'm all ears. Go on."

"Right. So what we have to do now is gather all the Time Gears and bring them to the place where the Primal Keeper of Time resides." Ash said while nodding to himself.

"..And? What's the bad news?" Carmine asked after crossing his arms.

"Well.. It says in the report that the Keeper of Time resides in a place hidden by the Rainbow Bridge, as it is located in another dimension." Ash picked up some pages he dropped earlier.

"Okay, I still don't get how that's the bad news. We can just go to the Rainbow Bridge and go to that place, right?"

"Yes, but not quite. To get to the Rainbow Bridge, we need some sort of.. Key."

"Yes.. And that would be..?" Carmine inquired.

Ash threw some pages from the report he had read earlier to Carmine. "That part was covered by a blood stain."

Carmine looked over the pages. "Are you kidding me? What kind of a sick bastard is the guy who wrote this?" He frantically flipped over the pages a couple more times to make sure the other pages contained no information about the key. "No good, the other pages never mentioned anything about the key." Said Carmine while tossing the papers back to Ash.

"Well, I guess now the best thing to do is to figure out what the key is.." Ash got up from the rock he had been sitting on the past hour, and stretched his back. "Let's head back. Might as well collect the rest of the Time Gears while we try to figure out what the key is, no?"

"Won't that stop time flow?" Carmine spontaneously said.

"Damn it, you're right.. I guess we can't just freely collect the Time Gears. First we have to be sure we have the key to the Rainbow Bridge. And it also says there were some kinds of trial before the bridge. Geez, what a hassle." Ash packed his things and started walking towards the exit of the forest, with Carmine following him. However, Ash had caught something moving from the corner of his eye, something following them. "Do you hear that?"

"No, hear what?"

Ash looked around to confirm his suspicions, but all he could see was the lifeless scene of the forest. He shrugged off his worries, and continued walking. It might be the time he spent alone for most of his life the past four years, but he could definitely sense something tailing them, something ominous. He prayed that it was nothing. "Do you seriously not feel that?"

"Feel what? Maybe you're just tired. You haven't slept in two days. The fatigue is getting to you, I say." Carmine answered.

Ash looked around once more around them to find nothing. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it. "Maybe it was just my imagination running wild." He reluctantly turned around and exited the forest. Going home to rest was his next stop.

* * *

**Celestic Town  
12:30 PM**

Ash still had two days left until the third round of the Grand Conference, and after asking around, he learnt that Cynthia has taken the opportunity to go back to her hometown in Sinnoh, Celestic Town. "Man, It's been a while since I had gotten a haircut." He muttered to himself, checking his appearance in a nearby window. He had gotten himself a haircut after thinking about how troublesome it was to have long hair. "Man, I don't look half bad." He said to himself while looking at his reflection on a window outside a stranger's house. "Pika Pika!" His Pikachu agreed.

He noticed that a girl inside was looking at him. "Mama! There's a weird person outside smiling to himself after looking at _me_~!"

After some apologies being said, Ash continued on to the Celestic Town Historical Research Center, where Cynthia's grandmother worked as the head. He figured that if Cynthia were to come home, she would visit her grandmother first.

The Research Center was close to where he ran into trouble. Celestic Town was a small town that preserves Sinnoh History and the old ways of life. Located at the back of the center was the Celestic Ruins.

Ash arrived at the research center and rang the bell. And old lady with gray hair wearing a lab coat came to answer the door. "Ah, Professor Caroline, how do you do?" he greeted the head of the research center. "Pika!" Ash's Pikachu also greeted the Professor.

"..Do I know you?" the Professor asked.

"Ah, sorry. My name is Ash Ketchum, I believe we've met erm.. about four years ago? Four and a half? My friends and I tried to help you regain possession of the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs during the incident that time with Team Galactic." Ash explained.

The Professor thought to herself for a second before finally remembering who Ash was. "Ah of course! You're that young Pokémon Trainer from back then with the Pikachu!" She offered her hand for a shake, which Ash gladly returned. "Pardon me for asking, but.. Aren't you supposed to be dead? At least, that's what I heard years ago when that villain from Team Galactic was thrown into jail."

Ash smiled and gave a casual response. "Well, I managed to survive. Just barely, though."

"Ah, is that so? That is quite the surprise." the Professor smiled back. "That's good to know. Please, do come in."

"Ah, thank you." Ash lowered his head as a sign of gratitude. "How is the center doing these days?"

"Same old, same old. There is nothing really new and exciting going on currently." The Professor led Ash to the waiting area of the center. "So what brings you here today? I doubt it is just to visit the center." She asked.

Ash looked around the center to see no signs of Cynthia. "Actually, I heard that your granddaughter was in town. I came here to see her." He answered.

"Ah, really? Cynthia is currently out in the ruins. I'll call and tell her that she has a visitor. Wait here." Said the Professor. She turned to walk towards the ruins in the back of the center.

"Pardon me, Professor, but do you mind if I just come with you to the ruins? I don't think she would mind the surprise."

"Sure, if you say so."

During the walk to the ruins the Professor were greeted by her co-workers. The employees seemed very enthusiastic working in the center. "This place has got a positive working environment, hasn't it?" Ash commented.

"Oh yes, certainly. We are mostly joined by people who have great interests in the field, so I'd imagine they all enjoy their works. And it's also lunch time." The Professor explained. Not long after, they arrived at the back of the center. "There it is, she's in the main hall of the ruins." She said while pointing at the biggest hall. "By the way, young man."

"Yes?"

"If you don't mind me asking, what business do you have with Cynthia?" she asked.

"Well, I don't have any _business_ per se.. We're not really strangers to each other." Ash answered.

"Then may I ask what kind of relationship you have with her?"

"I believe you should ask her yourself, ma'am." After saying words of gratitude to the Professor for taking him to the ruins, Ash entered the main hall. It seems the place was cleaned up after the incident four years ago. "_What am I thinking? Of course it's cleaned up. It's been four years." _He chuckled to himself at his seemingly irresponsive logic at times.

"Who's there?" Cynthia turned around to see the source of the noise.

"It's me, it's me." Ash said nonchalantly.

"Ash? Why are you here?" she asked in confusion.

"What? I'm not allowed to see my girlfriend? I'm hurt." Said Ash jokingly.

"No, that's not it. It's just.. Unexpected, that's all. You always disappear somewhere, I thought I wasn't going to see you until the third round." She explained. "Did you cut your hair?"

"Glad you noticed. What do you think?"

"It looks good. It makes you look.. cool." She said with a smile.

"Well, thanks." Ash walked up to her and leaned on the base of the Dialga statue. "So what are you doing here? There are only two days left before the third round."

Cynthia turned to look at the inscription on the wall about the three lake trio. "I just felt like coming here to see my grandmother. And well, I always come to this ruin when I'm here. I've been doing that since I was a child."

"Ah, I see." Ash looked at the inscription in the center of the hall. However, his eyes caught the attention of something else. "Hey, Cynthia. What's that piece of rock over there? It has a funny symbol carved on it. And is it.. glowing?" said Ash while pointing at an artefact close to Cynthia's feet. The object was about a foot long in width and height, with a jagged bottom.

"Oh this?" she said while picking the object up. I found this Relic Fragment when I was a child, playing in the ruins. This very hall, actually. But I never found out what it was for." She answered.

"So it's a Relic Fragment, huh.. Looks interesting." Commented Ash while looking at the stone. "Anyway, I did come here for a reason." Ash stood up and turned towards Cynthia.

Cynthia placed the Relic Fragment back on the place it was before. "Oh? What is it?"

"Well, the last time I came here I didn't actually get a good look at this town. Care to show me around town?"

"Show you around? But.. There isn't really anything in this town."

"That was just an excuse for a date, you know that right?" said Ash while grabbing her hand, leading her out of the hall.

"O-of course I did!"

* * *

**A/N: Another apology for the long breaks between the updates from me - Sowwy =3**


	16. Meddler

**..Red Light, Green Light..**

**Celestic Town  
2:00 PM**

"Thank you for the meal." Said Ash after he finished his food. "That was great. You sure are an amazing cook, Cynthia."

"Oh, it was nothing." Cynthia said. "I'm glad you liked it."

After helping Cynthia with the dishes, she suggested that they go for a walk, to which Ash gladly accepted.

The two walked to the park in the middle of the town, where the ancient shrine, the heart of Celestic Town, was located. There they sat down in a grass slope facing the shrine, watching kids play.

"They look like they're having fun. It's rare to see kids playing outside nowadays. Then again, this isn't a big city." Ash commented while setting himself up to lie down on the slope. "What game do you think they're playing?"

"I think they're playing statues." Cynthia answered.

They continued to chat while watching the children play, joined by Ash's Pikachu shortly after they started talking. Before they knew it, hours had already gone by and it was getting dark.

"I have to go now, grandmother must be waiting for me." Cynthia pushed herself up. "I had a good time today. Thank you for coming all the way here."

Ash sat up and rested his arms on his knees. "No problem. I'd go anywhere to see you." He said with a smile.

"Ah, you." Cynthia chuckled, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Always with the cheesy lines."

Ash replied with smile. "I mean it, though."

"I know you do." She smiled back. "I'll see you later, Ash."

"Ah, wait." Ash spontaneously grabbed Cynthia's hand, causing her to trip and fall. He instinctively caught her to cushion her fall. "..Well, this is a rather embarrassing position." Cynthia ended up on top of him, their faces merely inches away from each other. He lifted his head up and closed in for a kiss, with Cynthia doing the same.

"Aah! Cynthia's doing naughty things!" One of the kids shouted not far from them. The couple immediately separated from one another. "I'm so telling the Professor.." another one said.

"L-let's not do that, now.." Said Cynthia, attempting to change the children's minds.

Futile as it was, the children ran in the direction of the research center. "Nope! We're telling her! Catch us if you can!"

Cynthia stood up, but the children were already too far to chase. "Geez, this all happened because you pulled me.."

"Ah yeah, about that." Ash stood up and opened his pack, pulling a hat. He placed the hat on Cynthia's head. "For you."

"This hat is.." She took off the cap and looked at it. "The hat you wore while travelling in Sinnoh?"

"Yep."

"Why are you giving this to me?" she asked.

Ash stroked his chin while looking for an answer. "I don't know myself. I just felt like giving it to you."

Cynthia looked at the hat again and smiled. "Thank you. I'll take good care of it."

"I'll walk you back home." Said Ash after putting his arms around her.

* * *

Cynthia's house was a close walk from the research center. After seeing Ash off, she went inside her house to be greeted by her grandmother.

"Did you have a good time, dear?" the Professor asked. "I didn't know you liked men younger than you."

"Oh, please don't tease me." Cynthia protested as she took her coat off.

"As long as you're happy, dear." The professor added.

Cynthia looked out of her living room window to see Ash still in sight. "That's weird." She said.

Professor Caroline also came to look out the window. "What is?"

"I didn't know Ash had that Pokémon."

* * *

**Indigo Plateau  
7:00 PM**

"What? Ash is alive?" A woman with orange hair shouted in the lobby of the hotel. "Are you serious, Brock?" she yelled while shaking the breeder's collar.

"Yeah, yeah, he is, Misty! Stop shaking meeee!" Brock yelled while trying to get himself out of the grasps of the Cerulean Gym leader.

Misty stopped, and pulled him closer for further investigation. "Are you sure? One-hundred-percent sure?" she asked.

"Yes, yes! He even had Pikachu with him! Look, I wasn't the only one, ask Dawn and Max!" he answered while pointing at the two fellow trainers. Fortunately, he was released when Misty turned her attention to Dawn and Max.

"Is this true, Max?" another voice asked.

"Yep, totally true, sis. He looked as healthy as he could be, and he's gotten pretty tall, too. Even his voice changed." Max answered to his sister, May.

"I wished we could have gone with you guys." Misty said dejectedly.

"You could, if you weren't in such a hurry." Brock Chimed in. "It was pretty cool, we even get to see a Moltres and her egg."

"Ooh, why do all the cool stuff happen when I'm away." May commented.

"So, more importantly, where's Ash now?" Misty asked Brock while sitting down.

Brock shrugged. "I don't know, he went somewhere with a friend of his right after we finished the second round. Carmine was his name, I think." He explained. "They were in quite the hurry."

Misty sighed and massaged her forehead. "So let me get this straight. Ash is alive and well, he's in this Conference, and he's going under the name of Thanatos." The others nodded in agreement. "So why has he kept the fact that he's alive a secret for the last four years?"

"I'm sure he has his reasons." Brock tried to come up with an answer. "But we could also just ask him the next time we meet him."

"That's a must!" Max said while standing up. "The third round is only two days- well, one and a half days from now! We can just ask him the questions later." The youngest trainer suggested.

"I guess we can do that." Dawn agreed. "We can also watch him battle, now that we know the schedule for the third round. Who's his opponent?"

"Let me check.." Max grabbed his PokeNav and opened the tournament website. "It's.. Morty."

"Morty? I've heard that name before.." said Brock while trying to remember the name.

Max sighed and gave a know-it-all shrug. "Don't you know your fellow Gym Leaders? He's the Ecruteak Gym Leader. It seems the majority of people that found the objectives are the well-known trainers, I guess. We were lucky to have been with Ash. We even found it before Misty and May."

"And we were so lucky, too! The Master Balls we found were the last two!" May added.

"Anyway, I'm off to train." Max abruptly said. "I want to get ready for my next match." He then left proceeded to leave to hotel.

Brock stood up and went after him. "I'll go with you, Max!"

Misty turned to look at Dawn and May. "Are you going to be joining them?" she asked.

"No, it's way too late for that. I'm going to get some dinner!" May answered cheerfully.

"That's a good idea." Dawn and Misty said in unison.

* * *

**Celestic Town  
7:10 PM**

Ash continued his walk with his Pikachu on his shoulder. He was in no hurry, since he had nothing to do the next day. The quest for the Time Gears would have to be stalled, since he had to look for the key to the Rainbow Bridge. He was taking his time admiring the old fashioned town, which preserved the old ways of life. It was impressive, to say the least.

He arrived at the park he was at with Cynthia earlier, seeing the ancient shrine in the middle of the park next to a tree. He spent a couple of minutes staring at the shrine, before sensing that he was not alone there.

Having sensed it too, Pikachu jumped off from Ash's shoulder and got ready for a battle. "This time I'm sure it's not just my imagination."

He looked around the shrine to see if there was anything out of the usual. Fortunately, everything seemed to be in order. He stepped down a little bit on the slope to get a better look. Squinting his eyes, Ash leaned forward in hopes to see what was startling Pikachu. Pikachu ran to the shrine and jumped on top of it and readied and electric shock. "Pikachu, is there something there?"

"Pika Pi, Pika!" cried Pikachu in agreement.

Having decided to check the shrine, Ash stepped forward yet again, going down the slope. Making sure that there was nothing behind him, he turned around to see, only to find a red eye staring down at him. Startled, he stumbled backwards and rolled down the slope. Recovering fairly quickly, he stood and looked up. To his surprise, there was nothing up the slope. Worried, Pikachu got off the shrine and ran towards Ash to check if he was okay.

".._Green light.."_

A voice was heard from the direction of the tree next to the shrine. Quickly turning around, he could see a humanoid figure facing the tree. Not enough light was present to completely deduct what exactly the figure was.

"_..Green light.."_

"This isn't funny." Ash said, annoyed. He started to walk to the figure, trying to make sure the identity of the source of the voice. "I don't want to play the statues game so late at night. Show yourself."

"_Red light!" _the figure shouted. In a split second, the figure turned around.

Ash was frozen in place. He could not help but to stop, his instincts were telling him so. Fortunately, he had gotten close enough to see what the figure was. "_It's a Dusknoir". _He thought to himself. The Dusknoir slowly started to turn around again. "_I have two choices." _Ash continued to talk to himself in his mind. _"I can either run, or finish the game."_

"_..Green light.." _The Dusknoir continued.

Ash slowly walked forward. _"..Of course, there's_ _always a third choice."_ He looked at Pikachu and nodded.

"_..Green light.."_

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled while pointing at the Dusknoir. Pikachu let out and continued an incredible surge of electricity while the Dusknoir receives it without flinching.

"_Red light!" _The Dusknoir shouted again, and just like before, it turned around in a split second.

"Pikachu, stop the Thunderbolt!" Ash told his Pikachu.

The Dusknoir opened its previously shut eye and revealed one red eye. It shifted its gaze from the ground to Ash. "What do you want?" Ash asked the Dusknoir. The Dusknoir stayed silent and moved towards Ash, which seemed like an eternity at the time. "I'm talking to you. What do you want?" Ash asked again.

"_..You moved." _It answered.

"What?"

"_..You have lost the game." _The Dusknoir continued.

"Yeah? What about it?" said Ash, antagonizing the ghost Pokémon. The Dusknoir stayed silent once more, approaching them in an increasing speed. Ash reached out for his belt and regretted the fact that he did not bring more Pokémon with him. "Pikachu." Ash called out. Pikachu looked up at his trainer. "Run."

"Pika?"

"This thing isn't normal, run!" Immediately after saying that, Ash turned around ran with Pikachu on his side. However, Ash was stopped by the Dusknoir that was now blocking his path. "I supposed you won't be as kind as to just move out of the way?"

"_..Damnation to the ones that intervene.."_

"You're not making any sens- Ugh!" Ash was quickly interrupted by the Dusknoir who quickly grabbed him by the neck and smashed him into the tree at an unbelievable speed. Ash cried out because of the pain. "How the hell can this thing touch me when I _can't _touch it!" he tried to make contact with the Dusknoir but was only greeted by air.

"_..Damnation to the ones that intervene.."_

"P-Pikachu, run!" Ash yelled out to his partner. He was starting to suffocate because of the Dusknoir's hold. He could see that Pikachu did not want to leave him be. "Go to Cynthia and ask for help! Quickly!" He shouted with the little energy he had left because the lack of oxygen in his blood flow.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu shouted, while dashing in the direction of Cynthia's house.

"G-good.." Ash smiled. He struggled to take off his glove and revealed his metallic hand. "If I can't t-touch you, then let's see if I c-can blow you away.." Right as he finished speaking, the Dusknoir opened what seemed to be a portal, and started descending, dragging Ash with it. Ash quickly tried to activate his arm and absorbed some wind into his arm. He lifted his arm and stretched it in front of the Dusknoir's face. "Take this, you bastard!" The arm released a strong gust of wind, which startled the ghost Pokemon, however, leaving it unfazed. Having used the last of his energy, Ash fainted.

The Dusknoir successfully dragged Ash into the portal, closing it as they both have entered.

* * *

"Ash!" Cynthia cried out right as she arrived at the park, led by Ash's distraught Pikachu. "Where could he be..?"

Pikachu ran to the tree that Ash was pinned on, and found no traces of his partner. "Pikapi.." the Pikachu said as he looked for Ash. He found a glove not far from the tree. "Pika pika!"

"What is it, Pikachu?" asked Cynthia as she came over. She saw the glove and picked it up. "Ash's glove.."


	17. Disqualified

**For Self-Preservation**

**Grand Conference  
Third Round  
12:10 PM**

The crowd were starting to become restless in the battle arena in Indigo Plateau. They had been waiting for ten minutes for the match, but only one of the two contestants was standing in the field. He was Morty, the leader of Ecruteak Gym, waiting for his scheduled opponent.

"C'mon, get on with it already! Where's Thanatos!" One of the spectators shouted.

"Yeah, yeah! What he said!" another one joined. "We paid good money to see this!"

As if cued by the first, thunderous roars of disappointment came from the arena stands. The judges and officials could be seen starting their discussion on the matter.

May, who was in the stand to watch his best friend's battle, started looking at the tournament's schedule one more time. "It's been more than ten minutes. Where could Ash be? _If _he's really Ash, that is."

"I'm sure he'll come soon enough." Brock replied. "And yes, he really _is_ Ash! Max and Dawn told you so too yesterday."

May sighed. "Speaking of Max, I wonder how he's doing on his match."

"I'm sure he'll do fine. His match should be starting now too." Brock replied.

"Who's he battling?"

Brock looked over his schedule again and went through the list of names. "Uh-oh."

"He's battling someone good, isn't he?" May asked in curiosity.

"He's going up against Steven. Steven Stone." Brock answered.

Another couple of minutes went by without any sign of Thanatos. An official came down from the judges' stand and talked to the referee standing on the field. The referee nodded and took a microphone. After the microphone produced a little feedback, the crowd went silent.

"Due to the absence of Thanatos, after discussed by the officials, Morty is now declared the victor of this bout!" the referee announced. "By default, Morty advances to the fourth round!"

In protest, the crowd jeered. After much apologizing by the officials, the spectators exited the arena in hopes of watching a good Pokémon battle elsewhere.

Brock and May were also on their way out when they overheard a group of people talking.

"Man, that was so disappointing. I bet that Thanatos guy lost his nerve and decided to back out."

"Yeah, tell me about it. That Morty guy doesn't look so strong either."

Similar comments were thrown around on their way out of the arena.

After a long walk out, Brock spotted Cynthia also exiting the arena, with a Pikachu on her shoulder. "Hey, maybe Cynthia knows where Ash is." Brock said as he started to walk towards Cynthia.

"Why would she know?" May asked.

"It's a long story." Brock replied. The two made their way to Cynthia. "Hey, Cynthia!"

"Oh, hello Brock, and you are.. May, correct?" Cynthia said as she waved to the two.

"Yes, yes I am. Nice to meet you." May shook hands with the champion of Sinnoh.

"Cynthia, do you know where Ash is? He didn't show up for his battle." Said Brock while taking notice of Ash's Pikachu on Cynthia's shoulder. "Why is Pikachu with you?"

"No, Brock, unfortunately I don't know. I was hoping to ask you about it." The champion answered.

"Pika.." Pikachu growled.

* * *

**?  
?**

Ash could hear the sound of rain somewhere close. Starting to regain his vision, he realized that he was lying down with his hands tied behind his back. His face felt the cold sensation of what he figured to be pavement. He tried to sit up with little success, his body was still in a lethargic state.

"You finally woke up." A voice came from the room.

Ash looked up to see another man was sitting down across from him, his hands behind his back also. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties. Unshaven facial hair, ragged clothes.

"I don't suppose you can untie me." Ash said half-jokingly after he sat up, resting his back on the nearest wall.

The man chuckled. "Huh, the first human company I had in a while and he turns out to be a joker." he said while letting out a dry cough. "But we're the same, so I guess it's not that bad."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "The same?"

The man looked at Ash and shrugged. "We're after the same thing." He said while coughing again.

Ash looked at the man and noticed his state. To say that he was looking weak was a massive understatement, Ash thought. "How long have you been here?"

The man rested his head on the wall and sighed. "Four days.. at least. I think I might suffer from hyponatraemia soon. I've been drinking too much from the rain.." the man sighed. "But none of that should matter. Now that you're here, we should be executed soon enough."

"What? What do you mean?" Ash asked.

Before he could say anything more, the gate to the room was opened by a pack of Sableye. Wasting no time, the Sableye grabbed the two men and told them to follow one of the Sableye. Having no choice in the matter, Ash followed suit.

He stepped outside the room and felt the rain pouring on him. Ash took a good look around him. The scenery was foreign to him, yet he was so sure that he had seen this somewhere before. Then he remembered the sight he saw at Treeshroud forest. Time Paralysis. Everything was colorless. Gray, if he had to give a color to it. A Sableye pushed him and grunted while pointing forward. Ash resumed walking.

"Hey.. Where are we?" Ash asked the man.

"What do you mean?" the man answered without looking back. "This is the place we've been looking for since the world's paralysis."

"What? The world's paralysis? You're not making any sense." Ash replied back.

The man sighed and turned to look at Ash. "Are you daft?"

Ash shrugged. "I might be. Now just answer. Where the hell are we?"

The man looked straight ahead, his walking speed halting by the second. "This is where we die."

The two were speechless for the rest of the walk to wherever the Sableye were taking them. The strange man seemed to know, but Ash figured that whatever questions he asked next would be left unanswered. The more he thought, he was answered with more questions. "_Am I going to die here? Why do I have to die? Who wants me dead? What have I done?"_

He looked the strange man again. "_So frail, so weak."_ Ash thought. From the looks of it, Ash figured that the man had accepted the fact that he was going to die.

The two arrived at a large gate, preventing them to proceed further. The gate seemed to be surrounded by rubbles. "_Then again, everything here seems to be in shambles. This place looks like a ruin."_

One of the Sableye stepped forward. It opened the gate, the hinges creaking loudly. The two was pushed down by the rest of the Sableye. Ash could feel his body being tied to an object. After they were finished, Ash found himself bound to a pole. They were placed in the middle of a large clearing, the Sableye surrounding them. Ash looked up and saw a Pokémon he never thought he would see again. A Dialga.

Suddenly, the man he was with started laughing. After what seemed to be an eternity, the strange man finally stopped laughing. "Welcome to Temporal Tower, buddy. Are you ready to die yet?"

* * *

**Indigo Plateau  
6:00 PM**

"Hey, Max, don't feel so down, buddy." Said Brock as he tried to console his friend. Max had battle Steven Stone earlier in the day for the third Round, and had lost a decisive defeat on the hands of the Steven.

Max stared at Steven's profile on the public computer in the hotel. "Aargh! I could've had him, it was so close!"

"Actually you weren't even_ close_, Max." May said as she looked over Max to see the computer screen. Max stared at Steven's page for a while longer before finally accepting his defeat.

"You want to go eat dinner, Max?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'm starving!"

Brock laughed at Max's attitude. "He sure rebounds quickly, doesn't he?" he said to May.

May gave a know-it-all shrug. "I bet he'll cry himself to sleep tonight."

"I won't! Stop treating me like a kid!" Max retorted. "And today you only won by luck, you're not _that_ much better than me."

"Oh yeah? Says the one who lost!"

The two siblings continued to argue while on their way to dinner, with Brock following closely behind. Once there, they met up with Dawn and Misty who had already started eating. After exchanging simple greetings, the three went off to get their food from the buffet. After settling down with, the trainers continued to chat.

"So, Dawn, I heard you lost?" Max asked bluntly.

Dawn sighed in disappointment. "Yes, unfortunately."

"So, who was your opponent?" Max followed up on his question.

Brock grabbed his handy tournament guide once more and answered Max's question. "I think it was Blaine, right?"

"Yeah.. that stupid sunglasses old man! Why was he so strong!" Dawn said in annoyance. "His Magmortar was insanely strong."

"Ash lost to him too, once, before finally defeating him, I think." Misty said after taking a sip of her drink.

"Really? How did Ash defeat him?" Dawn asked.

"Well, at the time Blaine's Gym was just destroyed because of an incident with Team Rocket, so the second match was held on top of a volcano." Misty started to tell the story.

"On top of a volcano? That's crazy!" Max commented with a mouthful.

"Yes, now that I think about it, it was pretty crazy." Misty continued. "It was between Ash's Charizard and Blaine's Magmar. At the time, his Magmar hasn't evolved yet. They were equally matched, but Charizard took the win by performing a Seismic Toss, slamming down Magmar to the volcano."

"Aw, man! I would love to see that happen!" said Max while cleaning his mouth. "Speaking of Ash, where is he? Did you guys get to see him battle?"

"Oh yeah, about that. He didn't exactly come to his battle, so he got disqualified." Brock answered.

"What? That's impossible! So where is he now?" Max continued the question barrage.

Brock shook his head. "We couldn't find him."

Max crossed his arm and tried to think. "Did you ask Cynthia?"

"Yes, we did, and she doesn't know either." May answered, cutting Brock off. "What's the deal with Ash and Cynthia anyway? You're the second person to suggest asking Cynthia about where Ash would be."

Max, Brock and Dawn looked at each other.

Under the glare from Misty, Brock started to talk. "Well, you see, this might be hard to believe, but.. They told us they're dating.. if I remember correctly."

"What!" Misty and May shouted in unison.

"Ash is dating?" Misty asked while shaking Brock's collar. "How! And.. And.."

"With the champion of Sinnoh?" May finished what Misty was going to ask.

Brock tried to free himself from the devil like clutches of the Cerulean Gym Leader. "S-stooop! I know as little as you guys, do, I swear! Why don't you guys just ask him yourself when you meet him!"

After finally being put down, Brock breathed in the sweet air of freedom.

"Hmph, I bet he's having fun with Cynthia right _now._" May said while crossing her arms.

"Do I smell jealousy coming from you, sister?" Max asked while giving his sister the look, teasing her.

"N-No, of course not! Why would I be jealous? Right, Misty?" May answered while throwing the question to Misty.

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah.."

* * *

_**Temporal Tower  
…**_

_The strange man was laughing. Quite loudly, given the situation. Whether it was out of desperation or something else, at that time, Ash was unable to tell. _

_The Sableye below him were cheering for the Dialga, who was not too far from them. The Dialga started to walk towards the two humans who was hung on the poles. As it came closer, Ash noticed that there was something different about the Dialga before him. It had the same shape as the Dialga he had seen before, but there was something amiss. However, before being able fully examine the strangeness, the Dialga stopped walking. _

"The color.. There is a different color on it."_ Ash thought to himself. He squinted in hopes of getting a better view._

_The Dialga was in a darker shade of blue than the one he encountered before, and was streaming with orange instead of turquoise color. The diamond on its chest was glaring red, instead of the calming blue. It gave a very threating roar, demanding silence from the pack of Sableye. It looked at Ash and the other man hung on the poles from its position._

_The diamond on its chest started to shine as it readied an attack._

_Ash noticed that the strange man had stopped laughing. He looked at the man, and found him staring back._

"Welcome to Temporal Tower, buddy. Are you ready to die yet?"


	18. Strange Man

**..Only One..**

**Temporal Tower  
…**

Ash struggled to break free while the Dialga continued to ready its attack. The strange man had gone silent, seemingly welcoming death. Ash looked at the legendary Pokémon once more and wondered why it was taking so long to release the attack. Whatever the reason was, complaining was out of the question. He quickly assessed the situation and played a scenario in his head. He could stay there, take the attack, and see what would happen. He could also try to cut the ropes and escape. Of course, Ash preferred the latter option.

"_There's only one problem." _Ash thought to himself. _"Do I also free that man?"_ Freeing him was possible, but it would also make their escape more difficult. The man would definitely be a liability, mainly because of the man's weakened physical state.

Ash looked at how he was tied up once again. Luckily, he could freely move his fingers. Those little movements can easily allow him to cut his ropes with his artificial arm. He pointed his index finger at the ropes and absorbed air from his wrist. He released a thin and sharp stream of air in hopes of cutting the ropes. Feeling the ropes getting loose, he did the same thing a few more times. He got himself out of the ropes to see the pack of Sableye taking cover. Instinctively, he dove and threw his body on the ground.

The sound of an explosion came thundering from behind him. He looked at the pole he was tied up at, and saw that the pole had been demolished by the attack the Dialga released. "Huh, that's some timing I've got." Ash said while getting back on his feet. He looked at the strange man and noticed his head was bleeding because of the fragments shot out from the explosion. He prepared his arm for another go.

"Alright, here goes!" he shouted. He released a burst of sharp air on the ropes, chipping it on various spots, enough to break it with his hand. Ash got the man out of the ropes and carried him over his shoulder, making a run for the gate. The pack of Sableye started to go after them.

"Tsch, this guy's heavy." Said Ash while struggling to keep his body balanced. He passed the gate without any resistance, however, the Sableye were determined to keep them at the tower. Ash noticed a couple of explosions coming from behind him. He looked back to see that the pack of Sableye started to shoot a barrage of Shadow Ball. Ash tried to run faster in order to dodge the attacks; however, he found it hard to do because of the extra weight he was carrying.

The amount of Shadow Ball decreased shortly after, and Ash decided to take another look back. He saw that the Sableye were running to take shelter. He saw a bright light coming from the direction of the Dialga. Quickly turning around, Ash saw the room he was held in. He made a dash for it and jumped in the room. The earth shook from the attack, causing debris to fall.

Ash looked around the room for his bag that he had to leave because of the Sableye. After finding it in the corner of the room, he looked outside to find the way to the Dialga was sealed by a landslide. "I guess I _am_ very lucky." Ash commented upon seeing the blockade. "We should have more time to escape from this place now." He lifted and carried the man over his shoulder once more, heading out towards what seemed to be the way out. He walked for a while before reaching a dead end. It was an open space, looking out to the horizon. He looked down to see how high up he was located in the tower. "Damn, that's a long way down."

"Ugh.."

"Ah, you're awake. Good." Ash felt the man move. He rested him on the walls to let him recover.

"What.. happened?" the man groaned as he touched his head.

"Fragments from the explosion." Ash answered. "You got knocked out cold."

"That.. so? How did you get us out of there..?"

"I've got a couple tricks up my sleeve." Ash said while showing a grin. "But we're still not home free. Do you know the layout of this tower? Where's the way down?" Ash asked giving the man water from his pack.

The man drank the water and gave a big sigh. "The only way down.. was where the Dialga is.."

"Damn it! Now where are we supposed to go?" Ash said in frustration.

As if on cue, rumbling sounds were heard from where they came from. The Sableye were starting to blow the landslide apart to make their way to Ash and the injured man. He looked over the cliff again. "What's down there?"

"..Water. The water is as solid as a rock.. because of paralysis.. Why? You planning to jump down?"

"Yeah, something like that.. I guess. But, normally, from this height, it would be impossible." Ash said while trying to measure the height mentally. "From this height, we'd be dead the moment we touch the water. We'd reach the terminal velocity in a flash." He explained as he lifted the man on his shoulder again. "However, we just don't have the time."

"What.. in the world are you doing?" the man asked with a frightened look. "Surely you don't plan on jumping, knowing the risks?"

"Well, I still have a trick up my sleeve. Quite literally." Ash walked to the edge of the cliff. "And don't call me-"

"Shirley..? Yeah.. Haven't heard that one before."

"Here we go!" Ash shouted.

* * *

**10:30 PM  
International Police Headquarters  
Missing Persons Division**

"One more person to the list." An officer said while skimming over a report he just got from his co-worker. "We usually get little kids on the list, but a young man..?" He continued while scratching his head. "Now _this_ is- Wait, do I smell alcohol?" he looked up to see a well-dressed man leaning on the wall drinking his infamous Camus. "Mr. Kozenikata, what are you doing here? Goofing off again?"

Kozenikata took a sip of his Camus. "It's my break time. And also, call me the Looker, boy. Have you forgotten my code name?" he asked.

"No, uh.. Looker, sir."

"What have you got there?" the Looker took the piece of paper from the officer. "Ah, what do we have here.."

"Uh, Mr. Kozenika-" the officer said before receiving a glare from the Looker. "I mean, the Looker, sir, I have to give that to the Missing Persons staffs."

"I'll hold on to this for a minute.. Run on along now, I'll give it to them later."

"O-Okay.. Well, have a good day then, sir." The officer went out of the Missing Persons office.

"Well, now, I guess I'd better get back.."

"Brother Kozenikata!" his assistant called him. "Where have you been? You have lots of work to do!"

"Ah, yes, yes. The work of a hard-boiled detective is never done.." The Looker mumbled as he made his way to his office. He opened the door to find an unusual object waiting on his desk.

"Brother!" His assistant shouted. "T-that's a time bomb! What do we do?"

The Looker gave a chuckle and looked at the bomb carefully. "Detectives are constantly living next to death. However, if you are "hard-boiled", such dangers are commonplace.."

"But, the time is already less than thirty sec-"

"C-c-c-calm, calm, calm your pants, idiot!"

"Brother, it's your hands that are trembling. And didn't you just pee in your pants?_!_" his assistant shouted in protest.

"Heh. It's not just that." The beeping was getting louder and louder, signalling the bomb's time was running out. "Even my chest hair is trembling!" The explosive's timer beeped even more rapidly.

"What does that have to do with the bomb?_!_"

The bomb popped, revealing a series of confetti. The Looker moved closer and took the letter that was placed below the confetti bomb. "What, it's only a letter from a friend."

"Brother." His assistant called him.

"Ha?"

"I think we may need to clean the floor.."

* * *

**Dark Hills  
…**

"You feeling better?" Ash asked while doing daily maintenance on his arm.

The man was eating the food he had been given by Ash like an animal. "Yeah, feel like a new person already. Thanks a lot for the food. Man, I haven't eaten anything for days, these things taste amazing."

"No problem." Ash replied. "So where exactly _are_ we?"

"This place," the man said while eating. "Is called Dark Hills." He continued. "Got its name from how it looks after the event."

"The event?"

"The moment the world was paralyzed." The man said while putting his bowl down, having finished his meal. "Aah, that's some good food."

"Wait a minute. The entire world is paralyzed?" Ash asked in confusion. "When did that happen?"

"Huh? You really don't know?" the man asked in surprise. "Where have _you_ been the last ten years?"

"Ten.. years?"

"Yup."

"I.. don't get it. Before I came to this place, the world was still fine! The only place where time had been paralyzed was in Treeshroud forest!" Ash shouted in frustration. He grabbed his bag and took out the research papers he had been reading anytime something weird happened.

The man noticed the report and quickly snatched it from Ash to take a better look. "You.. where did you-" The man suddenly fell down.

"Hey! Hey! What happened!" Ash said while looking at the man who had unexpectedly gone out cold. "Shit.. he fainted." Ash went and looked in his bag to look for water. "And we're running out of water.. Damn. Where can I get some water? All the water we passed on the way here seemed to be frozen."

"I know a place.." the man said, struggling to sit down.

"Oh? You're up already?" Ash commented. "That was fast."

"It was just a Dimensional Scream, nothing serious."

"Dimensional Scream? I've heard that term before.."

"In any case," the man interrupted Ash's train of thought. "I understand what's going on now."

"What is it?"

The man got up and started to stretch. "This isn't really the place to talk. Follow me, I know a good spot."

The two gathered their belongings and started walking again.

* * *

"Are we there yet? We've been walking for two days now." Ash complained.

"Just a little more. We're almost out of the Dark Hills." The man answered. "My place isn't that far away from here."

Ash sighed. "If you say so.."

The past two days had not been very eventful. There was one instance where they were nearly compromised by the pack of Sableye chasing them, but thanks to the man's knowledge of the area and Ash's quick wit, they had evaded the pursuers. However, despite the fact that they had lost the pursuers, a new problem surfaced. The two were running out of rations. In a world where everything was frozen in place, there was little to none edible objects in their paths.

"We're here." The man claimed.

Ash looked up to find a place where there was color, a place where time had not been frozen. The grass was green, the sky was blue, and he could feel the wind blowing. "This is.."

"The only place where time hadn't been frozen. My place is over there, c'mon."

They entered a small shack in the middle of the open field. The man told Ash to sit down while he went to get some food and drinks. Not long after, the man returned with some.

"So, I guess it's about time I explain to you what is going on here." The man started.

"I guess it is." Ash replied.

"From the Dimensional Scream I had, I saw your past. From the papers I took. You were carrying it with you an awful lot, weren't you?" he asked.

Ash raised an eyebrow at his claim. "Yes, I did. And what do you mean my past?"

"The Dimensional Scream enables me to either look into the future of an object I touch, or the past. However, I can't really control it. It happens randomly, and I cannot choose whether I want to see the past or the future." The man explained.

"The past.. and the future.." Ash mumbled. "I've had something along the lines of a dizzy spell, followed by a vision. Could that be a Dimensional Scream too?"

"It might be, but as far as I know, I am the only one with this ability in this world. However, that brings me to my next point." The man paused.

"Which is..?"

The man took out a Pokedex from his pocket. "This." He opened the index page of the Pokedex and showed Ash the date. "This is the current time."

Ash's eyes widened in surprise. "No way.. This is six years in the future?"

"Yep. You're in the future, friend." The man continued. "That left me one question to ask. If you are, as you say, six years from the past, was it?"

"..Yeah."

"The fact that you were captured by Dusknoir and were brought here to be executed, that could only mean one thing. _You_ were trying to gather the Time Gears." The man stated.

"Yes, yes I was." Ash answered.

"However, I find it a bit hard to believe that you claim to come from the world six years prior. The world ended ten years ago! Time suddenly froze at random places, so people went to investigate. They discovered the existence of Time Gears, and were trying to stop the world paralysis. But Dialga had already gone insane. He turned into a Primal Dialga, only interested in self-preservation. He captured all the people that were trying to stop him and executed them. That Dialga, and his minions, along with that bastard Dusknoir. Creepy Pokémon that's able to talk."

The man looked outside his window to look at the gray mountains. "It couldn't be helped, the rate of the paralysis was too fast.. In only a few weeks, the whole planet was paralyzed. Miraculously, I escaped the paralysis, somehow. I tried to return the planet to its former state for a long time.. Before I finally realized that the ten years I've spent were completely useless. Throughout those ten years I met some survivors, rounded them up, and tried to collect the Time Gears. When we've finally collected them all, we went to Temporal Tower to try and lift the paralysis, but it was useless. The Time Gears had lost their power, and my comrades died up there by the hands of the Primal Dialga."

Ash could only stay silent hearing what the man had to say about the current world.

"I managed to escape.. Just barely. At that moment, I realized that doing anything here, in the future, would be useless. So I looked towards the past." The man explained, now seated down at the table again. "I went back in time, ten years back. I found a man who was seemingly interested in gathering all the Time Gears with me. So I explained the situation.. Where I came from, the fate of the future.. Everything."

Ash gulped upon hearing this. "Was that man Cyrus?"

"Indeed it was." The man said while lightly tapping the table in frustration. "I needed help to get the Time Gears, and he was the only man I could think of who was crazy enough to believe in the nonsense I was spouting. I may have had a conflict with him in the past, but thankfully, he didn't recognize me. Using an alias, I was able to start the journey to collect the Time Gears again. However, Primal Dialga found out what I was up to.. and well, I was brought back here by Dusknoir to be executed. And then I met you."

"..I see."

"So let me ask you this one question." The man looked at Ash. "I have interfered with this planet's past. I have freed a criminal who was not supposed to be freed."

"Whoa, wait!" Ash interrupted the man. "_You_ freed Cyrus from prison?"

"Indeed, it was I." The man stopped Ash from talking any further. "Let me finish. As I was saying, I have interfered with the past. Seeing as you come from six years prior to now, the world has not ended in your time, where it should have ended ten years ago. In your time, it would be four years. Somehow, I've delayed our planet's paralysis. But I'm sure that it will not stop there. If we leave your time be, the same future will be happening again and again. So here we are." The man dropped to his knees and lowered his head. "I beg you! Please save our planet!"

Ash was dumbfounded at how the man was acting. Ash smiled and offered his hand to the man. "Please don't kneel to me. You don't have to ask, after hearing your story and witnessing this horrible sight, I would be happy to commit myself to the cause."

The man took Ash's hand and smiled. "Thank you, young man. I am glad I met you." The man stood up and tidied up the table. "Then it's settled. We're going back to your time."

"..Right!" Ash agreed happily.

"Oh, by the way, I never did get your name." The man said.

"Ah, that's right." Ash offered his hand for a shake. "Nice to meet you. My name's Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

The man's eyes widened in surprise. "That's..." Suddenly, the man broke into a loud laughter. "This is a very interesting encounter we had."

"How so?"

"_My_ name is Ash Ketchum. From Pallet Town. Nice to meet you." the man said as he shook the hand of a speechless Ash.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the longer update time. Final exams are coming.. not looking forward to them. I haven't done a long author's note at the end of a chapter for a while, so there's one in this chapter. If you don't like random nonsense.. then, well, I'm not forcing you to read this. But before I get started, I'm going to get a drink.**

**Ash: "Looks like he went to get a drink."  
Future Ash: "Seems that way."  
Ash: "Let's play around with the story for a bit."  
Future Ash: "We can do that?"  
Ash: "Suure we can. Why not?"  
Future Ash: "Alright then. For starters, let's change our names in this conversation. I'll be the focal point."**

**Past Ash: "What?"  
Ash: "There, much better."  
Past Ash: "Hey no fair! I'm the main character in this story, I'm changing it back."**

**Future Ash: "Oh, fine."  
Ash: "Much better."  
Future Ash: "Speaking of which, didn't you have a name for the attack with your arm? Why didn't you say it?"  
Ash: "Oh, Acer Ventus? Yeah, I kinda forgot. Maybe because he gave it such a dumb name."  
Future Ash: "Let's change that, then. How about.. Rasengan? Sounds cool."  
Ash: "That's from Naruto. We can't do that."  
Future Ash: "How about Bankai?"  
Ash: "Bleach. Taken."  
Future Ash: "Hmm.. How about ****Tenryū no Hōkō? It means Sky Dragon's Roar."  
Ash: "Alright. You're just doing it on purpose now. Stop breaking the dangerous fourth wall!"  
**

**Alright, Here comes the rambli- What the hell? What happened to the precious fourth wall?**

**Ash: "Ah. He's back."  
Future Ash: "He's back indeed."**

**You guys broke the fourth wall!**

**Ash: "He's mad."  
Future Ash: "He's one mad bro."**

**Get back in character. Now.**

**Ash & Future Ash: "Okay.."**

* * *

**That's the first and last time the fourth wall will be broken. ^^**


	19. Likewise

**A Promise's Worth  
.. **

**[Future] Ash's Shack  
10 Years into the Future**

"_I'm Dexter, a Pokédex programmed by __Professor Oak __for __Pokémon Trainer __Ash Ketchum__ of the town of __Pallet__. My function is to provide Ash with information and advice regarding Pokémon and their__training__. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced."_

"Well," Ash said while giving the man's Pok_é_dex back. "I guess I have no reason to doubt you."

"Guess not." The man replied. He placed the Pok_é_dex back in his pocket. "We'd better get moving. We have to get back to your time to collect the Time Gears."

"Right. How _exactly_ are we going to.. Travel back in time?" Ash asked, puzzled.

"We have to go to Dusk Forest to meet Celebi. There, she can transport you back to your time. Let's just hope we don't encounter any resistance from that wretched Sableye pack." Said the man. He grabbed his supplies and took one PokeBall from a drawer. It had a lightning mark on it.

"That's Pikachu?"

"Yeah."

"I'm surprised he went into the PokeBall." Ash commented.

"Well, he hasn't been exactly in top form for the past month or two. He can barely stand." The man replied, looking at the PokeBall with a concerned look. "I reckon he was poisoned during one of our skirmishes with Dialga's minions. Sadly, I ran out of herbs I can use to heal him."

Ash looked in his pack for something that he could give his future self. Fortunately, he still had one of the Full Restore he had bought in preparation for the second round of the Grand Conference. "Here." Ash said as he threw the healing item. "Hope he gets better soon."

"Thanks." The man smiled. "I do have a question before we go."

"Shoot."

"Whatever happened to your arm?" the man asked.

Ash was rather taken aback by this question, his reaction shown on his face.

"Did I bring up bad memories?"

"No, no. It's just.." Ash looked at the man's right arm to see that it was completely fine. "I thought that you'd have an artificial arm too, being the future me and all. I guess I've been under the impression that you had one too."

The man stayed silent for a while to think. "You raised a valid point, though. Why would you, the one from the past, have something that I have no recollection of having?"

"Well, in any case, in regards to your earlier question. My right arm was severed by Cyrus' Crobat on Spear Pillar."

"Is that so..?" the man said. "Well, waiting around here doing nothing will most certainly produce zero results for now. Let us go to Dusk Forest." The man exited the shack, followed by Ash closely behind him. "Did you bring the supplies?"

"Yeah, I've got them right here." Ash replied, tapping his bag. "How far do we have to walk?"

"Two days, at most. It's not as far as our trip from the Tower to the shack." Said the man while locking the door of his shack.

"Great, more walking."

* * *

"Well, we certainly got here fast." The man claimed, checking the time on his Pokedex. "Actually, scratch that. We're about to hit the forty-eight hour mark."

Ash looked up to the gray sky. "Hard to tell the time with the sky like that. So what's the deal? Did the planet stop rotating?"

"I do not know." The man answered.

"Are we still orbiting the sun?"

"That, I also do not know. It would be impossible to determine that, since we are unable to tell if the paralysis reached outside the planet, or if it's limited to the planet only. I'm more inclined to believe that we are still orbiting the sun, since... Well, I think the Time Gears exist only for this planet only. Think about it, this planet alone has five of them" the man explained.

"Ah, I see.. Wait, there are five of them?" Ash asked in surprise.

The man turned to Ash and gave a quizzical look. "Yeah, didn't you read the reports you had?"

Ash took the papers from his bag again, and gave the pages containing information about the Time Gears one more look. "You're right.. Wait, how did you know what this report was about? You collapsed before you could even read it the other day."

The man laughed. "I wrote the damned thing, of course I know what it's about."

"You wrote this thing? Did you leave it behind when you went to my time?" asked Ash.

"Something like that, I guess. I left it in one of Team Galactic's secret spots in Indigo Plateau before I tried to gather all the Time Gears." The man replied. "Ah, we're here."

The two had arrived at an entrance to a forest, greeted by what seemed like formerly lush and green trees, now shells of their former glory. "Man, this looks depressing." Ash blurted out spontaneously.

"Yeah? Try living in a world like this for ten years." The man shot back.

"Ah, right.. Sorry."

"No problem, you're new here." Said the man. "Now we need to find Celebi and go to the Passage of Time."

"The Passage of Time?"

The man signalled Ash to follow him. "Yeah, it's located a bit deeper into the forest. It's used to take long distance trips, such as a trip to the past. I used that last time I went back to the past. Unfortunately.."

"Unfortunately..?"

The man shook his head and continued walking. "It's nothing. You'll see when you get there."

"..Right."

Ash followed the man for another while. The paths in the forest were extremely ragged, making it difficult for them to maneuver through. They arrived in a clearing before Ash's guide finally stopped.

The man looked around and took out some berries from his pocket. "Looks like our transport is here."

Ash turned to the direction the man was looking at and saw a Pokémon flying toward them. Having expected a Celebi like the one he saw long ago with Brock and Misty, Ash was quite surprised at the color of the Celebi before him. The legendary time travelling Pokémon was gleaming in a pretty Pink color. "It's.. Pink."

"It's a shiny one." The man said while giving the Celebi the berries he had. "She's a docile one."

Ash raised an eyebrow at the man's claim. "She? It's a female? I thought legendary Pokémon don't have genders."

The man shrugged. "This one seems to like it when I refer it as a female." Said the man while petting the Celebi. "Let's go, we have to reach the Passage of Time as soon as we can."

The two continued their walk in the forest while they exchange some more information about themselves. However, it was mostly Ash that did the talking, as the man claimed that he did not have much to share, except for the story he had told Ash in the shack. Ash explained how things turned to worse with Cyrus on Spear Pillar, and how he miraculously survived the ridiculously high fall. He then continued to describe his life after he survived the incident, how terrible it was working for Team Galactic, and about Dr. Raito. He also told his future self about the meeting with the Champion of Sinnoh, and how they started a romantic relationship.

"Champion of Sinnoh, huh? You're good." Commented the man.

"Well, I'm not really sure how it happened myself." Said Ash while blushing a little.

"Sounds like you've been through a lot also." The man added.

"It pales in comparison to yours, though." Ash replied.

"It seems we'll have to cut this short." The man said when they arrived at yet another clearing.

Faced with a dead end, Ash could see what seemed to be carcasses. "Well, this is.. lovely. I imagined the Passage of Time would be a little prettier than this. You know, just a little."

The man laughed it off. "Heh, you sarcastic bastard."

Ash stretched and turned to the man. "Let's get this show on the road, then."

"Right. Celebi, prepare to transport Ash back to the past. The one you sent me to a little while ago." The man said to the Celebi. The time travel Pokemon gave an affirmative response and started concentrating.

"Wait, you're not coming with?" Ash asked.

"Celebi can only send one person back for a period of time."

"And how long is that?"

"A couple of months, give or take. Celebi here isn't exactly in the best shape. But by then, your world will have started to paralyze already. Besides, someone's got to hold _them _off and cover Celebi while she transports you back." The man said while nodding his head in a general direction.

"_Them_?" Ash asked in confusion. He looked at where the man was signalling and noticed the pack of Sableye started to scramble out of the trees. "How did they get here?"

"Hell if I know." The man stated. "Listen. You can't afford to mess up back in your time. Not unless you want the world to look like this."

"..Leave it to me. I'll stop the world paralysis and restore your time back like how it was before the event." Said Ash as he looked through his bag for his last Full Restore. "Here, take these too, then. Might help you out a bit."

The man took the Full Restore and looked at it briefly. "Heh. Thanks. This will be useful." he then turned to look at the Celebi. "Looks like your portal is ready."

Ash turned around to see that an object similar to what he had been through when he encountered the Dusknoir. "So what do I do? Jump in?"

"Pretty much." The man said, greeted by the cries of the Sableye shortly after. Looming behind the dual Dark/Ghost Pokemon was the Primal Dialga's subordinate, the Dusknoir. "Might want to hurry, Ash. "

"Right. And thanks for everything. See you around, Ash." The younger of the two said as he turned around and jumped in the portal.

"Likewise." The man said as he grabbed his one and only PokeBall. He threw the ball in the air and called out his partner. "Pikachu, go!"

"_..Damnation to the ones that intervene.." _The Dusknoir stated as he began to open a portal, however, quickly interrupted by a strong surge of Thunderbolt.

"You're not going anywhere." The man said as he smirked.

* * *

Ash looked around to see a distorted space. He found it quite hard to discern the basic directions. "Seems the laws of physics don't exactly apply here.. Then again, this _is_ a space-time portal." He said as he nervously chuckled to himself. "Now then, where do I go from here.." As he looked around, he noticed a strange source of light. Deciding that standing still will do no good, he approached the strange light.

Once there, the light grew enormously, blinding him. Ash opened his eyes to see a familiar scene. A scene he had been playing in his head countless times. "No.. How?" He said in disbelief as he saw the leader of Team Galactic standing tall on Spear Pillar.

"Without your Pokémon, you're just as useless as the next guy on the street, aren't you, The Champion of Sinnoh?" said the blue-haired man while he was taking out a red chain from his pocket. "Now, I'm going to pry open the Dimensional space."

"Stop right there, Cyrus!" the blonde-haired trainer shouted, while trying to take the red chain away from the man.

Cyrus, who had anticipated this, quickly ordered his Pokémon to stop the champion in a violent way. "Crobat! Air Slash!"

"No! Get away from there, Cynthia!" Dawn said, who was being kept busy by a number of Galactic Grunts attacking her with multiple Pokémon. May, who had just finished her share of Grunts, came to help Dawn.

Ash saw a younger version of himself, who realized Cyrus' intentions from the beginning, had already started running towards Cynthia.

Brock, Misty and Max had just arrived in the scene, after calling help from the Police Force and taking down quite a few of Grunts.

The Ash in the vision, who couldn't make it in time by running, quickly reached out his right hand and dived forward. He pushed the champion, getting her out of the course of the Air Slash. The young trainer from Pallet Town successfully pushed Cynthia out of the way and dodged the Crobat's attack gracefully.

Ash's eyes widened in surprise. "What..? That's.. That's not what happened!" he shouted. As if on cue, he heard a roar from somewhere. He looked behind him to see a shadow of a Pokemon. "Dialga.." Suddenly, the scene around him started to move back in time, as if something had pressed a rewind button. After stopping shortly, the scene started moving again.

Ash saw his younger self running towards Cynthia again. Reaching out his hand and diving again. Again, he pushed the champion, getting her out of the course of the Air slash. However, this time it came with a price. An expense he was very familiar with. Ash was speechless as he quietly stared at the arm that was rolling towards him. "Now that is the way it happened." He said as he desperately tried to laugh off the horrible scene. He noticed that another ray of light was shining, growing enormously like the one he saw earlier. Out of vigour, Ash could only let the light engulf him.

* * *

"Well, I have to say, that was way more than a little exercise." The man stated as he was opened the door to his shack. "Glad to see you full with energy again, pal. It's been a while. Glad you're okay too, Celebi."

"Pika pi!" his Pikachu said in agreement.

The man sat down and felt the energy leave him. "What are we going to do now..? Dammit, there must be something we can do to help." he muttered to himself. He remembered what his past self had told him a couple of days before.

"_Well, in any case, in regards to your earlier question. My right arm was severed by Cyrus' Crobat on Spear Pillar."_

The man sighed as he let his head rest on the table. "That's not possible.. I successfully sent Cyrus to jail that time in the Spear Pillar." He stood up and looked out his window, setting his sights on Temporal Tower.

"..That's it."

"Pika?"

"I think.. This is all just a speculation, but.." the man trailed off as he sat back down to reorganize his thoughts. "I doubt that whatever my past self does in his world will do anything _here._ If he stops the world paralysis in his world, then.." the man stood up once more and banged on the table. "Of course! There's still _something_ we can do here!" He quickly grabbed his bag and started to resupply.

* * *

**Lavaridge Town Outskirts  
..**

Ash opened his eyes to see trees surrounding him. The sun was shining bright, decorated by the cries of the flock of Numel looking for food. "..Good, everything's all colourful." He got up and tried to find a wireless reception on his PokeNav. Thankfully, he found Poke Center's universal wireless connection. "Good, the fact that there's a Wi-Fi means that at least I'm not far from my original time" He let his PokeNav adjust to the current date and time while he tried to look for a path to the nearest town.

After the PokeNav finished updating, Ash quickly checked it to see the date and time. "Well, I'm definitely where I'm supposed to be.." he muttered to himself while staring at the PokeNav screen. "But I've been gone six months? I guess it was a bit too much to ask to send me exactly where I was before." He opened to map and checked his current position. "Let's see.. The closest town would be Lavaridge. Guess I'd better head there first."

"Oh, are you heading to Lavaridge?" A voice said behind him.

Ash instinctively turned around and assumed a fighting stance to see it was unnecessary. "Oh, Flannery."

The Lavaridge gym leader tilted her head. "..I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"I don't think so, but I recognize you. Aren't you the Lavaridge Gym Leader?"

"That's right, I am!" the redhead said with a bright smile on her face. "Hmm.. Haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

Ash shrugged and started to walk towards Lavaridge. "Must be your imagination. I believe this is the first time we met."

"I guess it is."

The two exchanged pleasantries while on their way to Lavaridge, mostly about trivial things. Having been stuck in a lifeless time for roughly a week, the cheerful energy the hot head gym leader was giving off was a definite pleasure.

"So, you're a trainer, right? Are you here to challenge my gym?" asked Flannery.

"Unfortunately, I'm not. I'm only in town for a short while."

"Oh, is that so.. Well, this is where we part ways. My gym is right over there. Challenge me next time you're in town, then!" Flannery said as she made her way towards the gym.

Ash waved goodbye as he watched her go. "Man, what a cheerful sort." He continued to make his way towards Lavaridge Town, before he was stopped by a peculiar looking poster near the police station. He moved closer to take a better look. "What the hell is this?"

The poster had details about a man who was planning to steal all of the planet's Time Gears and destroy the planet. The wanted man had the Time Gear of Treeshroud Forest, and was responsible for the time paralysis in the forest. The wanted man's name was Ash Ketchum, at times going by Thanatos.

* * *

**A/N: Final exams are not fun..**


	20. Criminal Scum

**Two Ventured  
..**

**Lavaridge Town Outskirts  
..**

"Cyrus, that bastard!" Ash shouted after finding out that he was now a wanted man in Hoenn. He then wondered if the posters were also placed in the other regions. Ash grabbed the poster and walked away from the town to avoid attracting unnecessary attention. He headed back to the spot where he saw the flock of Numel to find an unexpected friendly cloaked figure.

"_..Good to see you back."_ the figure said telepathically.

"Oh, long time no see, Mewtwo. Good timing, I was just thinking about you." Ash replied casually. He flashed the wanted poster. "Apparently, I'm wanted now. I did want to tell everyone that I'm not dead yet, but this isn't really what I had in mind." The young man chuckled nervously. He looked at the poster again to see the details. "..Time thief, huh. I have to say, he's got me good this time." Ash looked at Mewtwo and sighed. "How were things when I was gone?"

"_Uneventful. Your friends- Bravo Team, was it? Yes, they tried to look for the other Time Gears, only successful in getting the one in Fogbound Lake. Even though they are aware of the general area, it appears that the Time Gear is hidden well. Just like the one in Fogbound Lake." _The genetic Pokemon explained.

"What about Cyrus? Did he get his hands on any of the other gears?"

"_None that I know of."_

"Guess the gears are harder to find than I thought they would." Ash sighed as he sat down to clear his head. "Say, can you teleport me to the mansion?"

"_Before that, I have something to say." _Mewtwo added. _"About this current fiasco.. And the prominent figures involved."_

Ash shrugged and raised an eyebrow. "Do we really have the time for this? We all know that we're the good guys and Cyrus is the bad guy. I mean, there's not much to talk about."

"_There _is _much talk, and I have listened. Through rock, metal, and time. Now I shall talk, and you shall listen." _Mewtwo shot back.

"Uh.. Sure.." Ash narrowed his eyes in skepticism.

"_The one of machine and nerve, traversing the path of vengeance. A crossroad of choices it shall face, its mind concluded."_ Mewtwo started, glaring at Ash to see that he had placed a rather puzzled look. _"The one of matter and faith, traversing the path of loyalty. Many years it has served its Deity, its mind deluded."_

"Don't play games now, Mewtwo. The last time we did this was when you taught me telepathy, and that wasn't a very fond memory of mine." Ash chimed in.

Ignoring the man's comment, Mewtwo continued. _"The Deity's containment.. And the other's great journey.. Are the same. Their ideals have promised them freedom from a doomed existence, and are ever closer to achieving salvation. The one's disposition and the other's ambition, both will lead but to one solution."_

Ash closed his eyes and shook his head after giving a light chuckle. "Alright now, you mind telling me what it really means?"

Opening his eyes, he found that he was no longer in the company of the legendary Pokemon and was now standing on the grounds of Raito's mansion. "..That slimy bastard.."

"Oh hey, look who's back." a voice came from the direction of the house.

Ash turned to see a distinctive figure, a man with his ever-so-strange motorcycle helmet. "Carmine, what are you doing in my house?"

The Bravo Team member opened his arms and tried to look as if he was hurt. "Is that how you greet a friend after six months? Oh, the pain!" said Carmine, putting one hand on his chest after. "Oh, and the members of Bravo Team are now living in the mansion. It's our headquarters, so to speak."

"It hasn't been that long for me, and, what in the world? Who gave you permission to do that! It's my house!" Ash shouted in protest.

"Well, now you have housemates!"

"Oh, I hate you.."

"Look on the bright side! Now we don't have to call a meeting and wait for a few days to get all the members together, and it'll be easier for us to direct our operatives. Since we opted out from Team Galactic, it was hard to move in an organized manner, what with us being hunted down by the other squads from Galactic and all." Carmine explained as he led Ash to the living room of the mansion. Or what _was_ the living room.

"Carmine?" Ash called, still shocked at what he was witnessing.

"Yeah?"

"What the hell happened to my living room? It looks like a lounge, dammit!"

"Why, it _is_ a lounge now! Beautiful, isn't it? The place where the members relax after a hard mission! Some entertainment, some drinks from the bar, you can even swim in the pool!"

"Dammit, Carmine, what the hell were you thinkin- There's a pool?" said Ash, looking around the room.

"Oh, yes." Carmine picked up a remote and pressed a button, revealing a hidden pool beneath the floor.

"That's pretty cool, actually."

"Isn't it?"

"..Whatever, I'll deal with this later. Call the members of the team. We're getting the rest of the Time Gears." Ash ordered Carmine while heading to the study. "We don't have much time, get them as fast as you can."

"Sure thing, boss."

Fifteen minutes later Ash found himself in the company of Carmine and the rest of the members of Bravo Team, all seemingly with a personal vendetta against Team Galactic, to which Ash was told by Carmine to be utilizing them as Ash saw fit. "Alright, so what's this about you guys not being able to find the rest of the gears?" Ash asked to the team.

Carmine looked around and seeing as nobody wanted to answer, he stepped up and started explaining. "Well, it was definitely harder than we thought. We've been to the desert to look for the Underground Lake, we've been to the Limestone Cavern, and we've been to the Crystal Crossing also. Nothing. We found absolutely nothing." Said Carmine. "Oh and also, the police have taken up action because of Cyrus, and are now guarding the three locations."

Ash gave yet another puzzled look for the day. "The police? How did they get word of the locations?"

"Cyrus gave it to 'em. You've seen your wanted posters right? The public are well aware of the existence of the Time Gears, also the location. Fortunately, neither Team Galactic nor the police have found the gears yet, so we still have some time."

"Huh, how hard could finding a couple of gears be." Ash snorted. "Bunch of incompetent dogs." Realizing he was getting glares from the team, he added a rather satisfactory comment. "Not you guys. We lack the manpower to do it, but I'm pretty sure they have plenty of hands working on it."

"So what do we do now?" Carmine asked.

"We look for them again. With me in the team this time. Give me a little while to prepare, though. I need to say hi to my Pokemon."

* * *

**Quicksand Cave  
8:00 AM**

"Hey, Carmine." Ash called out to his friend while examining the cave walls.

"Hmm?" the other replied lazily while wiping the fog off his helmet, caused by the heat.

Failing to find anything of importance, Ash turned to look at his rather eccentric companion. "Remind me again how you guys failed to find this place. It was pretty easy."

"Er.. Yeah. We never thought that we have to go _during_ a sandstorm. It's pretty random, if you ask me."

The two had told the other members to guard the entrance and make sure nobody pursued them from above, while they explore the cave and try to find the gears. Seemingly a natural labyrinth and untouched by civilization, Ash could not help but wonder if man had been here before them. Many times Carmine would call him in response to particular objects that might be of use, to be waved off by Ash most of the time, deeming them unimportant to their cause.

The cave stretched down for a fair depth, and they had now reached the bottom of the second part of the natural formation, which Ash had called the 'Quicksand Pit'. A name his 'future' self had thought of. Ash's thought wandered for a few times while they were exploring the cave, naming the anomalies of the so called 'future' he had been to. However, having no time for idle thoughts, he had to return to the task at hand, that was to find the gears. And save the world. "_All in a day's work." _Ash joked to himself.

"Hey, Ash." Carmine called out.

"Yeah?"

"Do you hear.. Splashes?"

Ash focused his hearing on the surroundings. He could indeed hear splashes, however, it was improbable to pin-point the exact location, for it seemed to come from all directions. "Yeah, but from where?"

The two looked around for another while before Carmine came to Ash with rather good news. "I found a downward slope in the corner there. Might take us somewhere."

They went down the slope one by one and found themselves at an absurdly long corridor.

"Did I say this place looked untouched by civilization earlier?" Ash said, mouth agape.

"..I think so, yeah."

"Yeah, scratch that, I find it hard to believe that this was made naturally." Said the man while walking along the corridor.

Carmine caught up to him shortly after and voiced his own opinion. "Maybe it was built by Pokemon?"

"Maybe." Ash shrugged and then crossed his arms. "Hey, check that out." Ash nudged Carmine with his elbow, pointing at a source of light. They have found the end of the tunnel. Ash and Carmine started running towards the light to find a beautiful lake in front of them, an object in the middle sparkling brightly.

"This is.."

"We found it. The Underground Lake." Said Ash, putting his hands in the water. "Such clean waters." Suddenly, he felt a punch on his stomach was knocked a number of feet back, landing on his side. He tried getting back up immediately, however, stopped by the unresponsive and weak legs caused by the hit. He fell on his knees, supporting his body with his arms.

"Ash!" Carmine shouted, running up to him.

"Stay away!" Ash shot back at Carmine. He looked up to see a Pokemon floating effortlessly, glaring at him with such intensity. "Mesprit.." Ash whispered.

"Mesprit? Isn't it supposed to be imprisoned in one of the Galactic mobile bases?" asked the other, hands ready to release his Pokemon in case things took a turn for the worse.

"Y-yeah.. But before we met, I infiltrated the base where the Lake Trio was kept.. and well, placed explosives." Ash explained, gaining his composure back . "Before I.. Disappeared, six months ago, I decided it was a good time to use them. And so I did. I reckon the three legendaries got out."

"So you're the reason the mobile base Veni crashed?"

Ash, now fully composed, took a set of steps away from Mesprit. "Pretty much."

The lake legendary got closer to Ash and inspected the man better, much to Ash's discomfort. It then made its way to Carmine and did the same. The sour expression it had at first diminished, leaving a neutral one. Ash could have sworn that it was smiling. Mesprit flew to the Time Gear, and launched it at Ash. Thankfully, having good reflexes, Ash managed to catch it without much difficulty.

"Uh.. Thanks?" Ash said, confused.

The Mesprit nodded and made a gesture before leaving the immediate vicinity.

"Well.. That was easy. I guess it remembered your kindness, eh." Carmine commented while wiping his helmet's visor again. "I wonder what it meant, though. You know, with the gesture and all."

Ash looked at the lake once more and slowly stepped back. "I think it wants us to run."

"Huh?"

"Run, dammit, run!" Ash shouted, pointing at the lake while running towards the exit of the area. The time paralysis was already starting and was slowly creeping its way towards the duo, much to their dismay. "Why do you run so slowly, Carmine?_!_ Run, dammit, faster!"

Seeing as the rate of the paralysis had decreased, the two made their way back to the entrance relatively safely, excluding one moment where the tip of Ash's coat was caught by the paralysis. Unwillingly, Ash had to give up his much loved coat in order for him to survive. Still out of breath, he cannot help but to curse his loss of a piece of clothing. "Great, now I have to buy another coat. I don't even think they make it anymore!"

"Oh, come on.. It can't be that hard." Carmine commented, equally tired. "So.. What now?"

"You said you found a dead end at Crystal Crossing?" Ash asked, brushing sand off his pants.

"Yeah."

"_I _will go there now. I need you guys to do something else."

* * *

**Crystal Cave  
2:40 PM**

"Man, that's a lot of people at one place." Ash scowled at the unfavorable situation. "How did Carmine and the others managed to get past _that_?" he added, pointing to the platoon dispatched to the Time Gear location.

The entrance to the cave was guarded by what seemed police officers equipped with standard issue army rifles. "Man, those top dogs didn't even spare the military for this? Priorities, man, priorities.. They don't seem to appreciate the importance of the gears." he commented at the barricade upon closer inspection. "Now that I see they're only police officers, they don't seem so intimidating anymore.."

Ash moved closer under the cover of the police cars and tried to look for a weak spot in the defense. "Well, I'll be damned." He muttered under his breath. "Officer Jenny's leading this squadron? Can't say I'm surprised, I guess."

He left open the gas tank of a car open and gained some distance from the officers, back to the woods surrounding the cave entrance. He took his handkerchief and soaked it with his machine oil he brought for emergency repairs for his arm, and wrapped in around a small stick. After setting it on fire, he got ready to throw it in the gas tank of the car. "This usually works in the movies." He commented, taking a good aim at the tank. He flung the stick, and miraculously, the stick went in fire first. The car exploded and alarmed everyone on guard. Ash quickly made his way past the guards and went inside the cave.

Bright crystals were spread out plenty in the cave, lighting up the narrow paths Ash had to go through. The place was quite cold, as he cursed again how this situation would be better if he had not lost his overcoat in the previous tussle. He continued making his way up the steep slopes of the cave.

A few hours had gone by since he entered the cave and Ash was nearing what he thought was the 'dead end' Carmine was referring to. Occupied by what he quickly clarified as a couple of researchers and two police guard, the large room in the cave had three big crystals, which the researchers showed great interest in. Ash walked in the room, alerting the guards and the researchers.

"Stuck, are we?" Ash blurted casually.

The two guards quickly pulled out their firearms and pointed it at Ash. "You! Who are you? Identify yourself!"

"Me? I guess I'm what you people call.. The time thief?" Ash walked closer to the guards with his hands raised, to be told to stop in his tracks. "Shame you people are law enforcers.. If you're not, you could have just shot me the moment you saw me, no?"

"Silence!" one of the guards shouted. The guard reached out to his radio to notify the other guards.

Ash aimed his modified hand and shot out a thin, sharp burst of air and knocked the guard out. "That was a warning shot. I would advise on not telling the others I'm here, unless you want to.. Well, die." Said Ash, playing the villain. The other guard aimed the pistol at Ash's face, ready to shoot. "I wouldn't do that if I were you.."

"And why not?" the guard replied.

"I know how to get past this room. I can solve the puzzle." Ash shot back.

A while passed with everyone glued to their positions, before someone finally opened their mouth. It was one of the researchers present, seemingly the one in charge. "What will you do after you solve this.. Puzzle?"

"Why, get the Time Gear, of course."

"You bastar-!" another researcher protested, to be stopped by the head researcher.

Ash shifted his stance and lowered the guard's firearm, seeing as the person in charge was willing to cooperate. "I wouldn't mind you people following me. Besides, I'm giving you guys a chance."

"A chance?" the head asked.

Ash pointed his finger at the head. "Yes, a chance. A chance for you people to stop me, and a chance for you intelligent minds to see what is probably the most mind blowing object of the present time." Ash explained, walking closer to the researchers and the three crystals. "So, what say you?"

"Interesting." The head muttered. "Very well then, show us what you can do."

"A wise choice, scholar."

* * *

Ash had easily solved the puzzle of the crystals, having received the answer from his future self. Now accompanied by the researchers and one guard, the group were descending the caves in search of the Time Gear.

"Should we really trust this guy? What would stop him from just.. Kill us here?" the guard asked the head.

The head shook his head and answered, "If he had really wanted to kill us, he would've done it when he first set eyes on us. You saw how he took down your friend. It wasn't normal."

"I'm flattered, scholar, by your kind words." Ash muttered, chuckling.

After another hour of exploring, they arrived at an eerily long corridor, similar to the one in Quicksand Cave.

"We're close." Ash stated. However, sensing someone approaching, Ash turned around to see who it was.

"Hold it right there, criminal scum!" The person called out, followed by a Pokemon's roar next to it. A few seconds later, Ash could see that it was none other than the ever righteous member of the Jenny family.

"Good of you to join us, Officer Jenny." Said Ash, a sarcastic tone used.

"You are under arres-!" the police officer started, interrupted by the head researcher.

"Officer Jenny, if you please, could you somehow postpone the legal procedures until later? We're on the verge of witnessing something very remarkable." The head explained to an uncomfortable Officer Jenny.

"There, see? Come on, we're almost there." Ash started making his way towards the Time Gear once more.

"I won't fall for your lies, criminal! Growlithe, use-!"

"It's your choice to believe my words or think otherwise, officer. But try to stop me and I will resist, victory certain, as I already have taken down many of your kind. Follow me a little more, and you are free to try and stop me then. However, I assure you that it would be wise of you to choose the latter."

The other guard nodded to Officer Jenny, signalling that she should follow the criminal to where the Time Gear was. Unwillingly, she obliged.

Not long after, they arrived in a large clearing, standing on what seemed to be crystal floor, facing yet another lake, a mystic object floating in the center.

"That's.." one of the researchers muttered. "The Time Gear! Oh, by the gods, that's the Time Gear!" he shouted.

"How beautiful.." Officer Jenny whispered in wonder.

Ash stepped forward to the edge of the crystal and fixed his gaze upon yet another one of the gears. Unfortunately, he was greeted in a similar manner from the guardian, and was flung back. If anything was different, it was that this time the push had a little more force in it, causing Ash to be shot back to the clearing entrance, his back slammed on the wall, causing it to crumble a bit. Groaning in pain, he looked up to see Azelf examining him.

Azelf, one of the legendary lake trios, was apparently happy to see Ash, much like Mesprit. The psychic Pokemon gave him the Time Gear, and unknown to him, slipped a piece of crystal in his pocket. After motioning a warning similar to the one Mesprit gave, it flew away.

"Time thief! Hand over the Time Gear to us!" one of the guards shouted.

Ash, still in a daze, looked up and saw the center of the lake turning gray. He then remembered the usual protocol of removing the Time Gear. Take the gear, then run from the paralysis. "..Run." he muttered, trying to stand up.

"Are you daft, thief? I said.."

"Run, you idiot! Time is stopping!" Ash shouted, pointing at the lake.

Realizing what would happen to them, they started running back to escape the paralysis, with the exception of Officer Jenny. He helped Ash get back on his feet, enough for him to regain his composure. "I'm not letting you go, criminal. You will be arrested!"

Feeling comfortable, Ash started running back with Officer Jenny closely behind. Suddenly, the cave walls started shaking and debris started to fall, seemingly from the impact caused by Ash being flung by Azelf. Unable to dodge a piece, Officer Jenny tripped, allowing a rather large piece of crystal landing on her foot. Realizing that she could not get out in time, she ordered her Growlithe to go ahead and leaver her, quickly refused.

Ash looked back to see the situation and turned around to help, clicking his tongue in annoyance. "Tsch, this is why you don't wear high heels when you're a police officer!" he said as he tried to lift the debris off Officer Jenny's leg. "Hey, you, stupid mutt! Go ahead and call for help!" the dog, seeing the reasoning, left quickly, roaring aloud.

"Why are you helping me?" the woman asked.

"You helped me first. And do you think I can leave a woman to die? Well, I don't know if getting caught in the paralysis is the same as dying, but, eh, you get the point." Ash explained as he slowly realized the crystal was a bit too heavy for him. Having no other options, he prepared his arm once more and did a motion similar to the one he used to let himself free out of Primal Dialga's bounds. Cracking the crystal to pieces, he helped the officer up to her feet to find that the unfortunate event cost the functionality of the leg. Seeing as he had no time, he quickly carried her bridal style and started making his way back to the entrance.

"Wh-what are you doing?_!_" The officer shouted in surprise.

"I'm getting you out of here, that's what!"

Close to the entrance, Ash dropped the officer to the care of her subordinates and escaped from the grasps of the police. Once more, he had successfully escaped the paralysis' reach. As he made his way home, he could not help but think about what Mewtwo had said, and what it actually meant.

"_The one of machine and nerve, traversing the path of vengeance. A crossroad of choices it shall face, its mind concluded. __The one of matter and faith, traversing the path of loyalty. Many years it has served its Deity, its mind deluded. __The Deity's containment.. And the other's great journey.. Are the same. Their ideals have promised them freedom from a doomed existence, and are ever closer to achieving salvation. The one's disposition and the other's ambition, both will lead but to one solution."_

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long update gap, after the last chapter I had finals and I had to go back to my home country immediately after. I could've written a chapter back home, but I wanted to spend time with my family. I'm sure you guys had plenty to keep yourselves busy :D (UEFA EURO 2012 anyone? No? Okay..)**

**So because of the wait, this chapter's length is 35% more than the previous one! Hoorah!**

**In any case, I have no idea when the next one will be, but I hope it will be in about a week or so (note I said 'hope'!).**


	21. Hard Boiled

**Unsinking Feelings  
..**

**Celestic Town  
10:05 AM**

"Are you still on your break, dear?" an elderly woman asked her rather sleepy granddaughter. A yellow electric Pokémon ran up to her and got on her shoulders.

"Morning, Pikachu. And, yes, grandma." Cynthia answered lazily, heading for the kitchen to get some water. She took the luxury of sleeping in, having been on her break after a hectic schedule in the Sinnoh League the past couple of weeks. "I still have a week left, I think? I can get plenty of rest and research done." She answered, gulping down the glass of water. "What about you, grandma? You're not working today?"

"Oh, I think I'm entitled to a break every now and then, dear. I _am_ the head professor of the research centre." Her grandmother replied while turning on the television. "I wonder what's on the news today."

"…_And that concludes the weather report for today. Next up; The Time Thief strikes again after a long peaceful absence, successfully stealing two Time Gears."_

Cynthia immediately made her way to her grandma, almost spilling the water in the process. "Grandma, what did he just say?"

"The time thief.. Isn't he your boyfriend?" the professor commented.

"..Yes, yes he is."

The two waited in silence for the commercials to end, eagerly anticipating the return of the news program. For the two minutes that passed, it felt like hours for Cynthia.

"_Welcome back. It has been reported last night that the highly dangerous Time Thief has successfully stolen two Time Gears, after a six months absence- a rather long one. The desert area of Hoenn's Route 111, has been completely turned to a dead-zone that is the term used by the researchers to indicate that Time Paralysis has indeed taken place." _the news anchor said, showing the gray turned area of the desert from above, seemingly from a news helicopter. _"The thief had also broken through the barricades of the police in the Crystal Cave, hidden not far from Snowpoint City. The officials are reportedly trying their outmost best to capture this fugitive; powers from the regions combined. Researchers have said that the paralysis is growing at a slow, but steady pace. According to them, the criminal is most likely to strike again tonight, in the last remaining Time Gear's location, Limestone Cavern."_

Hearing this, Cynthia immediately got up and made her way to her room.

"Leaving to Limestone Cavern, dear?" the professor asked, turning her head to her granddaughter.

"Yes, grandma. And please don't try to stop me." Cynthia replied with a determined voice.

"I won't. But do be careful, dear, and don't forget to take a shower before you leave."

"Of course, grandma."

* * *

**Raito's Mansion  
10:10 PM**

The mansion that Ash inherited from Raito was rather secluded and out of reach from most of the public. Resting from the previous day's incidents, Ash found himself relaxing in the lounge Carmine had built in the mansion. He turned off the television and placed his feet on the foot rest. "Those guys won't know what hit them tonight." He said with a grin.

Feeling sleepy, he moved into a better position and tried to take a nap. Out of habit, he placed his hands inside his pockets and felt something out of the usual. He took the object out of his pocket to see that it was a crystal. "What the? How did this get in my pocket?"

Suddenly, he felt an excruciating pain in his head. A familiar sensation.

* * *

"_Over here?" a voice said._

"_Yeah, it should be this wall over here." Another voice spoke. "Take the crystal and hold it in your hand. I'm counting on you."_

"_I'll be back before you know it." The first voice replied._

"_That's pretty clever." The second voice thought out loud. "Making an illusion of a wall to hide the Time Gear.. Good thing we have the crystal to dispel it."_

* * *

"Ash! Hey, Ash!" a voice called out.

"Hmm?" the young man groaned, finding it a little hard to open his eyes, mostly due to the blinding pain that was running across his head. "What?"

"How long are you going to sleep?" the voice continued.

Ash opened his eyes to find that it was Carmine waking him up. "What time is it?"

"Four o'clock."

Ash jumped up in surprise, not expecting to have wasted so much time passed out. "Dammit, that's a lot of time lost." He muttered. "Get the other guys and meet me in the study." Minutes later, Ash found himself in the company of the Bravo Team members once more. "So what did you guys find in Brine Cave?"

Carmine stepped up and placed pictures on Ash's desk. "Right, Brine Cave. Is that what it's called?" said the man as he got some more pictures from the other members. Similarly, he also placed the remaining ones on the desk. "Dead end, man. We got to the end pretty easily, but once there our way was blocked by this strange looking wall, see?" explained Carmine, pointing at a specific picture. "Do we have to go through this cave to get to.. What did you call that place? Temporal Tower?"

"Yes, yes we do. It's kind of a gateway, you see." Ash said as he shifted his gaze to the object on the desk. The picture showed a strange symbol engraved on a wall, a symbol Ash had seen somewhere before. Ash took the picture and examined it for a second before stowing it away in his newly bought overcoat pocket. "I'll look into this myself. Now, on today's plan." He continued. "You say you've met a dead end in Limestone Cavern, Carmine?"

Carmine shrugged and sighed. "Yeah, we descended for quite a while before finally deciding that we couldn't go any further. Just when we thought we were going somewhere, the path ended."

"The dead end," Ash started. "The dead end that you found yourselves in. What did it look like?"

"This really big wall of rock. Couldn't get through, we couldn't. We tried everything. We even attempted to break it down." Carmine's story was supported by the other members nodding.

"Alright then." Ash said as he grinned. "Here's the plan."

* * *

**Limestone Cavern  
6:00 PM**

"Miss Cynthia, are you sure it's okay for you to be helping us?" A police officer asked.

"Yes, it's quite alright, officer. I would like to confront this 'Time Thief' myself." Cynthia answered.

The officer bowed and tipped his cap. "Many thanks, Champion. It is reassuring to have such a formidable ally."

Cynthia smiled back. "No worries, officer. I am glad to help." She replied, watching him stray back to his post. She noticed that the sun had started to sink, causing the officers to go and turn on the lights they had stationed there. The Sinnoh Champion had been standing by since noon, deciding to see for herself it the Time Thief was indeed the Ash Ketchum she knew.

"Ah, the rumors were true! The Sinnoh Champion _is _here!" a person shouted, pointing at Cynthia. "Quick, Ty, turn of the camera!"

"Okay, okay! Geez, Gabby, give me a second, will ya'?" the Cameraman shot back.

Cynthia turned to see what the commotion was, to find a reporter and her cameraman walking towards her.

"Miss Cynthia, it's an honor to see you. What brings you here to Limestone Cavern?" Gabby asked enthusiastically.

Cynthia tried to put a sincere smile and answered. "Well, I've heard that the Time Thief might appear here tonight, so I've decided to help out."

"What makes you want to aid the officers, Miss Cynthia?" the reporter continued.

"Well, I think it goes without saying that a criminal like the Time Thief is very dangerous, and who know what he will do when he obtains all five Time Gears." She answered fluently.

Gabby nodded and added one last question. "Well then. Now that you're here, do you think the criminal would be able to make off with the Time Gear?"

"Hmm.. I can't say for sure, but I think with me here, it would be very difficult for the thief to even get inside the cavern."

"Oh, confident, are we?" a voice commented from behind the reporters.

Cynthia quickly approached the source of the voice and confronted it. "Who's there?"

"The thief you just mocked, Champion." The man said, all too casual.

"It's the thief! That's the thief!" Gabby shouted to Ty, shaking the camera. "Quick, quick! Get a shot of him!"

* * *

"Oh, confident, are we?" Ash commented upon hearing that he was being underestimated.

The Sinnoh Champion quickly came towards him in a careful manner. "Who's there?"

Hurt by the question, Ash answered nonetheless. "The thief you just mocked, Champion."

Ash looked over to the reporter who was standing behind Cynthia, looking very excited. "It's the thief! That's the thief!" she shouted, apparently shaking the camera behind her. "Quick, quick! Get a shot of him!"

Alerted by the commotion, the other guards came running, armed. An officer Jenny came from the crowd, ready with her Growlithe. "You are under arrest, criminal! Place your hands up where we can see them!" she ordered. Ash noticed that her leg was bandaged, the same leg that the Officer Jenny from the day before had injured due to the crystal debris.

"Ah, it's you. How's the leg?" Ash asked, undermining the situation at hand.

"It's.. I.. I won't fall for your lies, criminal! Now put your hands up where we can see them!" she shot back, glaring at Ash.

"Gee, okay, don't have to be so rude.." Ash said as he complied. An officer approached him from the crowd, ready to apprehend him. The officer signalled him to get on his knees. Ash got on one knee slowly and aimed his mechanical arm at the officer, and shot a sharp burst of air, flinging the officer like a ragdoll. "Oops, my bad. Did he die?" the young man said with a sneer.

"You bastard!" another officer shouted, charging at him. Ash easily dodged the charge and flipped him over. "If.. If only we're allowed to kill you, you'd be dead by now you little shit!" the man cried out.

"Why of course, I would. But you need me to confess the location of the four Time Gears I possess, no?" Ash replied to the man, tapping his cheeks lightly in a mocking manner.

"Enough." The Champion ordered. She took a step closer to Ash and proceeded to ask some questions of her own. "What will you do with the Time Gears once you've collected all of them?" she asked.

"What's it to you, Champion? It's none of your business." Ash rudely answered.

Expecting the answer the criminal had given, Cynthia continued. "If it's going to cost our time and lives, then, yes, I think everybody has the right to know."

"..Fair enough, I guess you people _do_ have a right to know." Ash shrugged and placed his hands in his pocket. "I thought the gears would look nice in my house. You know, next to the pride of the police I've also taken yesterday."

Agitated by the mockery that the criminal had spat out, a number of officers could not bear to watch the scene any longer. A couple of them charged at Ash and tried to apprehend him, all of them failing miserably, some bones broken. Intimidated by the strength displayed by the criminal, the rest unconsciously backed out.

"Well? Some more? All of you, come at me already so I can take the Time Ge.." Ash had meant to taunt them some more, however, he felt something prick his shoulder blade. He looked to see that it was a tranquilizer dart. Ash turned around to find a face he had not seen for quite a while. "You.."

"Oh, confident, are we?" the man commented on Ash's bravado.

"Impressive aim, brother Kozenikata! Now we can bring him back to the headquarters!" a rather tomboyish girl ran up next to him.

Ash took out the dart and threw it on the ground. "You think this will stop me? This puny little thing? Well think again!" he shouted, charging for Kozenikata.

Kozenikata raised his tranquilizer gun and shot it once more, hitting Ash's knee. "How about now?"

"Y.. You bastard.." Ash muttered, taking out the dart and tossing it aside. He struggled to stand up and aimed his arm at the detective. "See you in hell-"

Without a batting an eyelash, Kozenikata shot another dart at the criminal's chest, causing him to finally collapse. "Commendable, to say the least. Those darts were very high in doses." Said Kozenikata while walking up to Ash. He grabbed Ash's head and held it in front of his face. "Never underestimate a hard-boiled detective."

* * *

**International Police Headquarters  
Interrogation Room  
…**

"Finally awake, huh?" a man spoke in a condescending manner, looking down at Ash with a high and mighty look. "Took you quite a while."

"Cyrus.." Ash muttered under his breath. He attempted to charge at the Team Galactic leader, to find that he was confined to a chair in a room. He looked around to see that he was also in the company of the Sinnoh Champion and the man who tranquilized him, along with other security guards. "Well.. This is nice." Ash commented at his own situation. "We have ourselves a nice party here."

"Drop the act, scum." Cyrus commanded, slamming the desk in front of him. "Tell us where you are hiding the Time Gears!"

"Up yours, that's where." Ash spat.

Cyrus quickly threw a right hook at Ash's face, causing him to lose balance and fall with the chair. He could taste the flavour of iron in his mouth, denoting that he must be hit pretty hard. Surprising, coming from a man such as Cyrus. He was picked back up by the officers that was standing by. "I know what you're going to do with the gears, you cur. You are attempting to create the world paralysis, are you not?" asked the blue-haired man.

Ash scoffed at the statement. "And what are _you_ going to do with the gears? What will stop _you_ from using them for _your_ own personal interest once you get your hands on them?"

Cyrus sat down and straightened his formal attire. "_My_ interest is saving the planet, criminal. I will save the people of the planet of its doomed future."

"I think we have a different idea of salvation, you bastard." Ash stated bluntly.

Cyrus closed in and glared at Ash. "Where do you get this confidence of yours, scum? Your actions will lead to the fall of the world, you brainless filth. Your actions will cause the world's paralysis! Now you _will_ tell us where you are hiding four of the gears you possess!"

"..Five." Ash whispered.

"What? What did you say?"

"I possess five gears. All of them."

"What? That's impossible!" Cyrus shouted, interrupted by the sound of an explosion echoing through the room.

"What was that?" said one of the officers, getting ready for an attack.

"..God." Ash muttered with a chuckle.

"Don't be smart with us, you criminal scum, that was your doing, wasn't it!" the other officer screamed on the top of his lung, grabbing Ash by the collar, seemingly losing patience.

"..Well, I _am _God." Ash stated with a grin on his face.

"You bastard!" the officer shouted, ready to punch Ash in the face.

"Alright, that's enough." Said Kozenikata as he shot the officer with his tranquilizer gun.

"What?" the other officer spat in disbelief. Wasting no time, Kozenikata quickly shot him right between the eyes.

"You traitor.." Cyrus muttered, pulling out his gun.

Being a trained man, Kozenikata's draw was noticeably faster than Cyrus's, making quick work of the leader of Team Galactic. He then freed Ash and used the chair to block the handle of the door to block the other officers from coming in.

"Took you long enough." Said Ash, his turn to straighten his clothes.

"Had to wait for the right moment." Kozenikata replied simply. "What do we do about her?" he asked, nodding at the woman sitting in the corner, terrified.

"Leave her, she can't harm us." As if on cue, the ceiling was crushed to reveal a Salamence, ready to pick Ash and his companion. "Let's go." The blue dragon Pokémon flew up, leaving the Sinnoh Champion in the interrogation room.

Flying back to the mansion, he was greeted by Carmine and his Fearow, who was also heading back to the mansion. "I got the gear!" Carmine shouted.

"Good! How was the trip?" Ash screamed back.

"Pretty smooth! Not too many guards! But the Time Gear guardian was annoying! I had to do a lot of talking!" Carmine said in a similar volume.

Ash maneuvered his Salamence closer to the Fearow to hear Carmine better. "What was it?"

"A Ditto!"

"Well, at least you didn't get thrown back a ways back like I did!"

"Touché!"

The flight back was rather uneventful, aside from the screaming and shouting the three did in order to communicate. After getting to the mansion, Ash had ordered Carmine and the team to rest up for the big day to come in two days.

"We're getting a day off?" Carmine asked.

"Yeah, you'll need it."

"And what about me?" Kozenikata chimed in.

"You can stay here and lay low for the next few days. You'll be safe here." Ash answered, getting ready to call it a day.

"Right. And what are you going to do tomorrow?" the detective asked.

Ash pulled out the picture he had gotten from Carmine from his pocket. "I have some catching up to do."

* * *

**A/N: Comparably shorter than the last chapter, but not the shortest. Also a bit disorganized, as I had meant to put the first part of Limestone Cavern in the previous episode, but I seem to have messed up the timing, hehe.**

**As for the story, well, the D-day is near. Ash currently has all five Time Gears, but he still need to collect one last key to get through Brine Cave and reach the Spire of Temporal Tower. **


	22. A Promise's Worth

**.  
"I can turn back time, I have the power!"  
..**

**Raito's Mansion  
1:00 AM**

Secluded from the bustling city life and most human population, a night for the mansion proved to be a wonderful spot to appreciate the beauty of nature that surrounds the lone structure. Located far away from light pollution, one could clearly see the sky and admire its gorgeous sea of stars.

Sitting on a balcony just outside of the lounge-made living room, Ash decided to bask in the light of the moon and organize his thoughts. Ash had almost fallen asleep listening to the cries of nature, if the detective had not come along and made conversation.

"About the incident earlier," Kozenikata started. "I believe I have repaid my debt?"

"Ah, of course," Ash stood up and leaned on the railings. "Highly appreciated. Many thanks."

The cop took a sip of his drink and offered some to Ash. "A glass of Camus?"

Ash turned and looked at the bottle and considered the proposal. "I guess a drink wouldn't hurt."

Kozenikata took another glass and poured the Camus. After giving it to Ash, he moved to a nearby chair and sat. "Beautiful night." He commented.

"Hmm." Ash nodded in agreement.

"Such clear skies. One could clearly see the moon basking in it elegance." The detective added, taking another sip.

Ash chugged down his drink and placed the down, leaning back on the spot before. "Have I ever told you how I much I detest the moon?" he asked.

"Oh, how so?" the other questioned back, also resting his glass. Unconsciously Ash looked at his artificial arm, images of its creator popping in his head. Kozenikata took notice of his demeanor and took a guess. "Did that old man hate the moon also?"

"Hmm. Part of it, yeah." Ash answered with a chuckle, praising the detective's sharp sense in his mind. "Has he ever told you the reason he joined Team Galactic?"

"Not really, now that I think about it. But how does that relate to the moon being hated?" The detective asked another question, shifting to a more comfortable sitting position.

Ash playfully let his arm's mechanism open and close for a couple of times, the sounds of metal meeting each other loud. A slot opened on the wrist followed by another two on the edges of his index and middle finger. "Watch this." The young man said, aiming the two fingers held out to a nearby branch. Faster than a blink of an eye, the branch snapped and fell to the ground. "Incredible invention, isn't it? Dr. Raito had a brilliant mind."

"Ooh," Kozenikata muttered in amazement, "That must be very useful. What else can you do with it?"

"I can propel myself really high and cover a large distance very quickly." Ash replied.

"And again, how does this relate to the moon?"

Ash closed and put his arm to rest. "As I said before, the old man is very smart. A genius, from my point of view. There was nothing he couldn't do. Yet, why did he join Team Galactic? That was a question I asked myself every day after he picked me up from near death state. He knew that Team Galactic was up to no good, yet there he was."

"So did you ask him?" The detective asked, cutting Ash off.

"I was just getting there. Patience, Looker, patience." The young man replied quickly, patting the detective on his back. "Yes, yes I did ask him. It was when he finished the construction of this arm. It turned out that Cyrus, desperate to achieve his ambitions, had gotten word of the old man's brilliance, and paid him a visit. Though refused many times, Cyrus finally resorted to an underhanded method."

Kozenikata drank another glass of Camus, lighting his cigar. "Enough to make that stubborn fool change his mind?"

"Did you know that the old man didn't have any parents?"

"Ah, yes, that I know. But he had a little sister, didn't he?" Kozenikata answered while taking a quick puff from his cigar.

"Yes, he did. She was the only family he had. His little sister had a frail body, so the old man spent most of his life taking care of her. Taking note of this, Cyrus took her as hostage. Having no other choice, he had to join Team Galactic, since Cyrus promised him that Team Galactic would shoulder the all medical formalities. I think he spent about ten years before finally finding out that his sister's was terminally ill."

"How does that even work? He waited _ten_ years before talking to his sister again?"

"No, no, they weren't allowed to meet. He was periodically updated about his sister's conditions, being sent the test results and whatnot. It was fine for ten years until his sister's condition suddenly took a downturn." Ash continued, his voice shaking. "He went to the hospital his sister was being treated at and snuck in. It all went well.. Until he saw her again. Seeing a sibling on her deathbed after not meeting for ten years was a bit too much for him. That moment, showered by full moon's ray, was the moment her sister passed away. With nothing else to blame but himself, he cursed his incompetence. And since that day, every time he saw the moon he has harbored a hateful feeling towards it, since come morning the moon has taken away the night, and also his sister's life."

Kozenikata looked at Ash who was glaring at the moon. "And.. you also hate the moon because he came to hate the moon?"

"Were it so easy." Ash shook his head, chuckling. "The night the old man passed away was also like that."

Kozenikata nodded and stroked his chin. "Ah, I see. I guess the old geezer really meant a lot to you."

"I thought that was fairly obvious." Ash answered playfully.

"Wait, so the sister dies right as he got to see her again?" the detective asked another question.

"Yes, after hearing her final words. At least that's what he told me." Came the simple answer from Ash.

Kozenikata got up and sighed. "Man, what are the chances.." he quickly finished his drink and set his glass down. "Well, I'll be retiring for the day. Do try to have a good night. Don't be too hard on the moon, now."

"Will do." Ash looked inside the mansion and saw the safe that contained the five Time Gears. He then remembered a scene that played out earlier in the day.

* * *

_Cyrus closed in and glared at Ash. "Where do you get this confidence of yours, scum? Your actions will lead to the fall of the world, you brainless filth. Your actions will cause the world's paralysis! Now you__will__tell us where you are hiding four of the gears you possess!"_

_"..Five." Ash whispered._

_"What? What did you say?"_

_"I possess five gears. All of them."_

_"What? That's impossible!" Cyrus shouted, interrupted by the sound of an explosion echoing through the room._

_"What was that?" said one of the officers, getting ready for an attack._

_"..God." Ash muttered with a chuckle._

_"Don't be smart with us, you criminal scum, that was your doing, wasn't it!" the other officer screamed on the top of his lung, grabbing Ash by the collar, seemingly losing patience._

_"..Well, I _am _God." Ash stated with a grin on his face._

* * *

"..God, huh?" Ash mumbled, sighing. "I guess with the Time Gears, I might as well be one. Just need to get through Brine Cave and work it out on Temporal Tower." He said to himself, only answered by the cries of nature. He then turned once more to the moon. "Cyrus, leader of Team Galactic, aiming to destroy the universe. He would recreate the universe without emotions, so that there may be no conflicts."

Ash looked at his artificial arm and snickered. "That doesn't sound too bad, all things considered."

* * *

**Celestic Town  
2:00 PM**

The symbol on the picture he had gotten from Carmine was strange, albeit familiar. Having never been to Brine Cave before, Ash had to trust the picture he had. During his trip to Limestone Cavern the day before he inspected it some more, ever so sure that he had seen the symbol before. Not in the future, not in the Temporal Tower he had been with his future self, but in his time, his world. He had one guess, but it was just a hunch.

Meeting with _her_ the day before jogged his memory some more. Yes, _her_.

He walked the calm streets of the town, looking at children play their games with seemingly boundless energy. He noticed that the number of his wanted posters were noticeably less than other towns and cities, much to his relief. And thankfully enough, the picture on the poster was of him before he changed his hair, at least giving him a couple of seconds of delay before being recognized. _Enough for a clean getaway, at least._ Ash thought to himself.

The ruins were located behind the research center, and he doubted that he could just waltz in and make his way to the ruins. He went around the facility and easily jumped the fence, the main hall of the ruins now in front of him. He silently opened the big metal doors to find a blonde woman with a yellow Pokémon on her shoulder inspecting the strange characters on the wall. Shifting his gaze to her feet, he looked around to see if his hunch was correct. And indeed it was. The object with the strange symbol from the picture was there, one that matched the one in Brine Cave. _She called it the Relic Fragment, _he recalled.

"It seems that whenever I come visit this town, you're always here, Cynthia." Ash commented.

The woman turned around, surprised to see the unexpected guest. Pikachu immediately got off and ran up to his best friend, getting a pat on the head. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"How rude. Is that how you treat someone who has been missing for six months?" he questioned back playfully, putting Pikachu on his shoulder.

"I don't think I need to be nice after what you've done yesterday." The woman shot back, glaring at Ash. "What are you planning, Ash? Why are you doing all this?"

"It's a long story." He replied shortly.

Cynthia crossed her arms. "Then please, do tell. I seem to have time on my hands."

Ash took a step forward, taking his hands out of his pockets. "I do not. I, on the other hand, have quite a tight schedule. I'm afraid I can't be here for long."

"Then don't make your story _long_." The woman responded.

The young man sighed and met Cynthia's gaze. "I'm doing this because of a promise. I made a promise to a man I met."

"You're doing _this_ because of a promise? You're destroying the world because of a _promise_?" the woman shot back, seemingly not satisfied hearing Ash's simple answer.

"I'm not destroying the world- Look, that's not why I'm here today. I'm not here to explain my motives." Ash said, avoiding the need to explain himself. He would like to keep her out of the whole situation. "I'm here for your Relic Fragment. Would you kindly give it to me?"

Cynthia looked at the object beside her and picked it up, holding it close to her. "This? Why would you want this? I don't even know what it does."

"I need it, Cynthia. Just give it to me. I don't want to take it by force." Ash started walking towards the blonde woman.

"No, I refuse." She rejected.

"Then I'm sorry." Ash said as he snapped his finger.

"Wha- Ahh!" Cynthia screamed as she fell backwards, the Relic Fragment taken from her hands by a blue flash.

"Good job, Lucario." Ash praised his Pokémon as he started to walk towards the exit.

Cynthia picked herself up and asked one last question. "Why are you doing this? What is this promise worth to you?"

Ignoring the champion, Ash opened the door and stepped outside the hall, to find the champion dash past him and blocking his way. He nodded to his Lucario and allowed the fighting-type to go first with the Relic Fragment. "Step aside, Cynthia. This is none of your business. I have no time for this."

"Then make me." She bluntly stated.

Ash sighed and pointed his finger to the sky. "I have my Salamence flying up there and can easily get away from you. What are you going to do then?"

"Then I will pursue you. You are currently in possession of the Time Gears of our planet, a dangerous criminal. I will stop you." Declared Cynthia.

"How much do you _actually _know about the Time Gears?" Ash said with a snicker. He never did like being called a criminal, but being called so by this certain someone had a little more kick to it. "Why is it that right now, this very moment, I possess all of the gears and yet, the world isn't paralyzed? I have the power in my hands to bring destruction, but yet the world still stands? Do you see me as a fool, Cynthia?" the man said passionately, losing his temper.

"Of course not! You obviously know more than I do, and if I were to see you as a fool, then I would have put more effort in bringing you to justice! You would never wish for the world's destruction, I know that much. I just.. I just wish to know what you hope to accomplish by doing all this, and maybe.. Just maybe, I could help!" she shouted back, cheeks turning red. "You.. You have a tendency to shoulder many burdens by yourself, Ash. I just thought.. maybe I could.. Help.." she trailed off, seemingly quivering. "Never once have I actually doubted you.. It's just.. You suddenly disappeared six months ago, and not once have I gotten word from you.."

Ash clicked his tongue and scratched his head, and quickly thought of something to say, obviously uncomfortable at the sight of a crying woman. "There is a reason I haven't told you my goal, Cynthia. I do not know what will happen when I reach _that_ place. Please understand, I'm doing this so you won't be placed in danger. I have absolutely no idea what lies before me, and it is too dangerous."

"Then what about you? What makes you invincible that you would so willingly go head first to danger?" Cynthia asked again, stepping closer to Ash.

"I have prepared myself accordingly, Cynthia. I'm ready to give my life for this cause." The man said, determined.

Cynthia walked up to him and slapped him across the face, leaving a bright red mark on his cheek. "What about the people who care about you? Your mother, your friends.. What about.. Me?"

"I'm a criminal.. Surely they have changed their opinion of me." Ash muttered bitterly.

"I have not." Cynthia grabbed Ash's hand and met his stare. She took out a glove from her pocket and placed it on his hand. "You disappeared from my world twice already.. I'm not letting you go this time."

Hearing her words, Ash could only laugh lightly at himself. "I think that's supposed to be _my_ line." He said as he took the glove and placed it on his right hand. "You've made up your mind, then?"

She nodded, a smile on her face.

Ash wiped her tears away and squeezed her cheeks. "Then I guess I have lost this one. But on the first sign of danger I will have Carmine and the others bring you back, you hear me?"

Cynthia laughed and hugged the young man. "There is no need, I can take care of myself."

The two hugged for longer, before finally interrupted by a bored Pikachu.

* * *

**Raito's Mansion  
10:00 PM**

"So, why is she here?" Carmine asked as he pointed at the new member of the team.

"She coerced me into letting her join." Ash replied, waving the question off.

"Man, you're weak against women." Carmine commented.

The group was planning for the day after, where they would venture into Brine Cave and scale the Temporal Tower and calm the world's paralysis.

"And, why am _I_ still here?" a man wearing sunglasses said, smoking his cigar while taking sips from his glass of Camus. "A hard-boiled detective such as myself should not be involved with criminals.."

"You have nowhere to go back to, Kozenikata. You're also a criminal now." Ash shrugged, taking the cigar from the detective and putting it out. "And no smoking. Smoke outside."

The detective pouted and took a seat. "..How uptight."

"Now then, let's start, shall we?" Ash clapped his hand and started going through the group's mission overview and briefing. The meeting went smoothly for most of it, if it weren't for Kozenikata's constant nagging about how he should be put for the more 'hard-boiled' part of the mission. Ash quickly adjourned the meeting and ordered everyone to get plenty of rest for the coming day.

Ash then headed for the balcony he was at the night before, joined by Cynthia shortly after. The two talked for some time before disturbed by Carmine and the hard-boiled man.

"Hey, Ash. I never asked, but where did you go these past six months? You left without telling any of us." Carmine asked behind the motorcycle helmet.

"Actually, I was just going to tell the story to Cynthia. But now that you're here, I guess I'll save myself the time, then." Ash started, putting Pikachu on the railings. "Six months ago, when I've just finished visiting Cynthia in Celestic Town, I was ambushed."

"Ambushed?" the blonde woman asked, concerned. "By whom?"

"I was attacked by a Dusknoir. A very.. Peculiar one. He then dragged me through a portal, half of it Pikachu witnessed. Isn't that right, buddy?" Ash lifted his Pikachu up, getting an energetic response from his best friend, happy they were together again. "I told him to run and I guess he found his way to Cynthia."

Cynthia patted Pikachu's head and smiled at the electric Pokemon. "That he did. Once I got to the place he was leading me to I couldn't find any trace of you, except for your glove."

"So where did this Dusknoir bring you?" Carmine tried to get Ash to continue the story.

Ash placed Pikachu on Cynthia's shoulder, thinking how well the color goes with the woman's blonde hair. He then turned back to Carmine and continued. "Ah, yes. I was brought to the future, believe it or not."

Kozenikata took his cigar off his mouth and tried to clarify. "The future, you say?"

"Yes, the future. This.. lifeless, desolate future. Well, long story short, there I learned about the world paralysis and how to stop it." Ash concluded the story bluntly.

"How did you manage to get back?" Carmine asked.

"I had help from.. a person that survived the paralysis. In all actuality, I was only there for two weeks or so. The process of getting me back here seemed to have messed up, and placed me six months off. So for me, it hasn't been that long at all." Ash smiled a nervous one, looking at his audience's reactions. A very mixed one from his perspective.

Carmine laughed and patted Ash on the back. "Amazing! And here we were very worried you might have gotten yourself into a very troublesome situation! I guess the legendary Thanatos has still got his touch!" The man then dragged the detective back inside the mansion. "Let us go, then! We wouldn't want to disturb these two lovebirds, now!"

"He's strangely upbeat, that guy.." Ash mumbled as he shifted his gaze from the Bravo Team member. "And kind of considerate."

"I think I will be calling it a day, now." Cynthia said as she also made her way inside the mansion.

"Oh, so soon? I thought you were going to ramble on some more about how it isn't fair that you had to wait six months while I, on the other hand, only two weeks." Ash playfully said.

Cynthia turned to the man and smiled. "Oh, I would love to, believe me. But I am too tired for that, I didn't exactly get a good night's rest yesterday."

"Ah." Ash realized that the reason for that were most probably his actions the day before. "Ah.. Sorry about that. I.."

"It's okay, it doesn't matter anymore." The woman said as she chuckled. "I'll take a shower and go to bed, then."

"Right."

After he watched Cynthia leave his side, Ash recalled his brief time in the paralyzed world with his supposed future self. A question he asked himself repeatedly came up once more. _Was he really Ash Ketchum?_ He thought. Assuming his current knowledge of time was true, then many things were out of place. Planning to give it some more thought before he went to sleep, Ash headed to his study.

Once there, he sat down and tried to illustrate his experiences on a piece of paper, making a timeline. He found it absurdly strange that even though the man had proven himself to be Ash Ketchum, the two had many differences, the most obvious and strange one being the arm. It would have made sense if his future self had the artificial arm and he did not, opening the possibility of something happening during their difference of years. However, this just wasn't the case. Spending eventless tens of minutes, Ash was unable to come up with an answer. He then vividly recalled a scene he had with the Ash from the future.

* * *

_"The fact that you were captured by Dusknoir and were brought here to be executed, that could only mean one thing. __You__ were trying to gather the Time Gears." The man stated._

_"Yes, yes I was." Ash answered._

_"However, I find it a bit hard to believe that you claim to come from the world six years prior. The world ended ten years ago!"_

* * *

"Ten years ago from that time.. Would be four years ago from now." Ash muttered to himself, tapping his pen on the table. "The only thing of great significance that happened four years ago was.. Me almost dying, I guess. And the fact that Cyrus' plans were halted. That moment on Spear Pillar."

He leaned back on his chair, sighing and rubbed his eyes. It was getting late, he reminded himself of the need to rest for tomorrow's quest. He went over the events in the future once more, from beginning until the end. The imprisonment, attempted execution, the escape from the fallen tower, the meeting with his future self, and finally his escape from the future. "Ah.." He suddenly mumbled, sitting up. "That vision.." Ash then tried to remember his trip back to his current time, in that strange dimension he stumbled upon when being transported back to his time.

He recalled the vision with the alternate ending to the scene on Spear Pillar, and the Dialga he saw in the vision. The Dialga that roared mightily, rewinding the scene and changing the outcome. "The Pokemon with the Roar of Time, huh.."

Suddenly it dawned on him. The outrageous possibility that only a man as eccentric as Dr. Raito would think of, an answer he found extremely silly and unreasonable. However, this seemed like the only possible answer to clear his doubts. If Dialga's power was as omnipotent as he thought, then indeed this was the only solution. Ash stood up and slammed the table in frustration. If this theory was really true, then the promise he made to the Future Ash will be invalid.

"Dammit all!" He shouted as he slammed the table once more. "It's not possible.. Not with this short time limit, no.. I.. I.." he stuttered, his voice cracking. Feeling his strength leaving his body, he let himself fall on his chair and rested his head back.

Sighing, he had to accept the current truth of the situation.

"It seems I won't be able to fulfill my promise.."

* * *

**Temporal Tower Entrance  
The Future**

The week he spent with his past self was refreshing. It was certainly nice to have human contact after a while, especially after having all your hopes and dreams crushed by an out of control Deity Pokemon and its henchmen. Now, after confirming what he had feared the whole time he was carrying out his missions, he could finally carry out his final quest. The man had not lived for very long, but it was surely an eventful life. His start as a Pokemon Trainer, his exciting adventures with his friends.

He longed to see them again. For this, he would give anything. To meet his mother, to meet his best friends, his rivals, fellow trainers. To have one last proper battle. However, it was all but a dream now. The man had lost count of how long he had been walking, his mind fixated of his life after the world ended. Without giving up, he continuously tried to revive the planet, to revive his home, city, and comrades, whatever this vast place holds. Ten years, he fought. Ten long years. All for naught, to be dismantled by this supposed Deity. Many times he thought the world was unfair. For too long he had been alone.

But it would all end soon.

The man was determined to put it all to rest. He had been alive for too long in this godforsaken time. His partner and best friend proudly rode his shoulder, energized, carrying the same determination. His meeting with his past self finally made him realize that there was no time to waste.

"That's right," He said to himself, stopping at the intimidating entrance of the fallen tower. "Only one way to end this." He entered the tower once more, ready to face the raged legendary Pokemon. As he walked the empty halls and ascended the tower, he knew very well what would happen after.

For ten years he kept telling himself that there must be a solution. A solution to save this mad world. For ten years he lead a harsh life, looking for that one solution. And now he had found it. Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town had finally acknowledged that there was only one way to save this world.

The man finally reached the gate that would lead him to the Dragon Pokemon. Repeatedly telling himself that there was no turning back, he managed to calm himself down. His Pikachu gave a growl of encouragement which he gratefully accepted. He was ready to end it all.

The man opened the gate, marking the start of his final battle to save his world.

And the only way to save his world was to end it.

* * *

**A/N: Because of the (relatively) long absence, this chapter is longer~**


	23. Temporal Breakdown  I

**.  
Temporal's Scream  
..**

**Brine Cave  
****09:00 AM  
****Depths**

"It feels like we've been walking forever." Carmine commented, checking the condition of his flashlight. "These batteries last a pretty long time, my torch's been going for a month and it's still good."

Kozenikata turned and looked at the younger man. "You know, I'm trying to remember a time where a person called a flashlight a 'torch'..." the detective said, fixing his sunglasses. "That's right, never."

Carmine chuckled and pointed at Kozenikata's face. "And _I'm_ trying to remember a time where a person wore sunglasses _inside_ a dark cave." The young man snapped his finger and faked a surprised look beneath his motorcycle helmet. "Oh that's right, never."

"Heh, touché." the older man simply replied.

Ash, who was standing behind most of the group had been staying quiet for most of the walk in the caves, leaving the navigation to Carmine and his team. For some reason or another, an ominous feeling had been haunting him since they entered the caves. He judged it would be better to keep silent for now.

The group, consisting of Ash, Kozenikata, Cynthia, Carmine and his two men continued making their way through the natural maze. During their last visit, Carmine and his men made a map from a sonar resonator Carmine had built himself. One of his better accomplishments, Ash would joke often. The journey through the narrow walls would be a little bit more comfortable if it were not for Kozenikata's seemingly endless supply of cigars, but it was something one could get used to. Of course, requests for some distance between the smoker and the rest of the group were complied to. Their time was generally filled with idle chatter to fill the silence; one where Ash would partake in usually. However, he spent most of the time thinking about what lied ahead and all he encountered until he reached his current point. He recalled his time where he met the Time Gear guardians, and his times with them that could have gone better.

Each person was granted a personal flashlight, or 'torches' as Carmine would call them, so the group can cover more areas of interests if they did come up. Ash was never interested in the caves walls and the likes, clearly reflected in his less-than-stellar performance in flashlight waving. At times when he did look around, his attention would immediately go to the blonde that was walking a bit further left to him. Her beautiful face, her golden hair that complements her features perfectly. Many time Ash pondered about his choice to let the woman come with him, many times he answered to himself that it was the wrong one. He knew perfectly well that she could take care of herself, but he could not be help but to be worried._  
_

Ash shifted his gaze to Kozenikata, the self-proclaimed 'hard-boiled' detective. After Cynthia, Ash knew Kozenikata the longest out of all the people in the group. They met right after the young trainer was saved by Raito. He learned that the detective had been on Galactic's tail for some time, trying to expose Cyrus' deeds. Meeting Ash, he was more than happy to have a reliable source of insider information. Throughout the four years, however, they were not able to find the right time to rightfully apprehend Cyrus. Partly because Ash's wish to pay Cyrus back upfront, _then_ leave him to the authorities. A wish that prolonged the conflict a little too long, Ash mused to himself. He glanced behind him to find the motorcycle helmet fanatic.

Carmine. Ex-member of Bravo Team of Galactic, fully qualified to be a specialist. He was a Pokémon Trainer as well, a point to be noted also. A good-natured young man, roughly Brock's age, Ash speculated. Initially applied for an engineering position in Team Galactic, he was quickly drafted to the personal defense corps because of his great results during the physical tests, much to his dismay.

"-sh," a voice called out, interrupting his train of thought. "Ash!"

The young man turned to find Cynthia calling him. "What is it?"

"Are you alright? You've been awfully quiet for a long time, now. Are you not feeling well?" the Sinnoh Champion asked, concerned.

"I'm perfectly fine, Cynthia. Thanks for asking." Ash answered with a smile. Even the littlest actions from the woman could make his worries fly away.

"Are we almost there, Carmine?" Kozenikata asked the man behind him.

Carmine checked his map and confirmed that they were going the correct way. "Sure are, man. We should be arriving at the impasse right about... Now." he finished as they saw a dead-end some distance away from them. The group shone their lights and revealed the symbol Carmine and his team had found the last visit.

"Everyone, stop." Ash suddenly ordered. "Nobody move." The group did as he told them and kept still for a couple of minutes.

If Carmine had his helmet off, his raised eyebrow would be easily seen, showing his confused look. "What is it, Ash? We don't exactly have the time to be just standing around, now."

Kozenikata stepped forward and gave another voice to Carmine's statement. "I agree with the helmet boy. It's best if we proceed quickly, no?"

Ash lightly stepped forward. "There's something here."

"What? What is it? When I came here last time there was absolutely nothing." Carmine answered as he lighted up the surroundings with his 'torch'. "See? Nothing."

Busy looking around, Ash did not notice Carmine who was now standing in front of the pattern. When he saw the man, Carmine was about to touch the pattern. A chill ran up Ash's back, causing him to immediately run up to Carmine and pull him back. "Don't touch that wall!" he screamed, throwing Carmine back a couple of feet.

Then, as if on cue, a Pokemon dropped from the ceiling and immediately pinned Ash to the wall.

"Ash!" Cynthia screamed.

Sorting their lights to the Pokemon, a Kabutops was revealed. Pressured by the ancient Pokemon was Ash, holding his ground by pushing the Pokemon's crossed claws back with his metallic arm. "A little help would be nice here!"

"On it!" shouted Carmine who was reaching for his PokeBall. Unfortunately, he was interrupted by two more figures dropping from the ceiling, blocking their way to save Ash. "Sorry Ash, but we'll be right with you!" he claimed as he released his Tropius, facing what he made out to be two Omastar.

Still held down by the Kabutops, Ash noticed that the Pokemon lifted one of its claw and raised it high, getting ready to slash at him. Instinctively, he ordered his Pikachu to attack. "Pikachu, Iron Tail!" The yellow rodent immediately jumped off Cynthia's shoulder with its tail shining bright and slammed it on the back of the Kabutops' head, making the dual rock-water type stagger, loosening its grip on Ash. He immediately rolled forward to find the two Omastar quickly subdued by Carmine's Tropius and Cynthia's Garchomp. "Let's finish this, shall we?" he said as he turned back to the Kabutops. "Carmine, you do it."

"Fine by me. Tropius, Magical Leaf!" Carmine ordered his Pokemon, taking out the ancient guardian with a single super effective hit.

"Dammit, Carmine!" Ash yelled out, making Cynthia run up to him to see if he was hurt.

"What is it?"

Ash turned around and showed his back, presenting his torn coat. "My coat's all ruined... I told you not to go up there! I almost died!"

"Yeah, sorry about that..." Carmine meekly answered.

* * *

After a quick talk about the little incident, the group continued on. Ash used the Relic Fragment to open a secret passage leading to the ocean, releasing a strange beam to the horizon. Shortly after, they were greeted by a Lapras. During his time in the future, Ash was told Temporal Tower was housed on a small island called the 'Hidden Land'. The Lapras in front of them answered to the beam initiated by the Relic Fragment, ready to take them to the Hidden Land. It was decided that Kozenikata and Carmine's two men were to ride on the Lapras, Carmine on his Tropius, while Ash accepted Cynthia's offer to ride on her Milotic with her. Ash mostly spent the time chatting with Cynthia, occasionally interrupted by Carmine's scout reports.

"_Ash, we need to speak_." the young man heard a voice in his head. Knowing where it came from, Ash excused himself and flew away on his Charizard. Clear from the others, a cloaked figure appeared in front of him.

"What is it, Mewtwo? You're interrupting a pretty nice time, here." Ash said, a little annoyed.

Mewtwo removed his hood and pointed in a direction. "_Humans are present on the entrance to the Island."_

Raising an eyebrow at the statement, Ash looked at the direction the legendary Pokemon was pointing at. "Oh hey, we can see the island now. You said there's people there?"

_"Yes, three of them, to be precise. They seem to be waiting for you." _Mewtwo continued.

"Alright, thanks for the heads up, Mewtwo. Keep up the good job." Ash said as he flew back to the group. Shortly after he rejoined the other four, they reached their destination.

Ash had told everyone aside from Cynthia to stay at a safe distance away from the island and to be ready to jump in at his signal. The young man and the Sinnoh Champion arrived at a shore, greeted by a cave entrance not far from the beach. Cynthia recalled her Milotic and they both entered the cave.

* * *

**Hidden Land  
****12:30 PM**

"These are.. Man-made structures?" Ash heard the blonde champion asked beside him, inspecting the interiors of the cave.

"Seems like it." the young man answered. "Are those ancient writings?" he continued as he eyed one of the many inscriptions on the walls.

Cynthia quickly made her way and looked at the carvings. "It is! Oh, this is so exciting!"

Ash could not help but laugh at her antics. "Be careful now, we don't know what's here." he commented, making his way to the woman.

"Is that how you convinced the Sinnoh Champion to work with you, criminal? You promised her a chance to look at ancient relics?" a voice came from behind Ash.

Turning around, he saw the Blackthorn Gym Leader, Clair. "Now, now. I think we both know that's not true. A better question is how _you_ got here, miss Clair. But looking at you, my first guess would be... The Dragon Clan?" Ash continued as he walked closer to dragon master._  
_

"How I got here matters not. What is your objective here, Ash Ketchum?" the gym leader questioned.

"He's here to stop the time paralysis, Clair. It's nice to see you again, by the way." Cynthia interrupted, waving lightly at Clair.

"Miss Cynthia! Why are you helping this criminal? Our planet's almost completely paralyzed because of him!" the dragon trainer shouted back.

Ash shrugged and gave a frown. "You know, you were a lot nicer when we were battling for the Rising Badge some years back." he reached into his pack and took out all the Time Gears, throwing it on the floor. "Here's all the Time Gears. If I gave them to you, what would you do with them?" Seeing as the blue-haired woman stayed silent, Ash gathered them back and placed it in his pack again. He looked at Clair once more, chuckling after noticing her expression.

"W-What is it?" Clair asked, discontent.

"You didn't come here to capture me, did you? If you did, you would've had me in ropes by now." Ash said, crossing his arms. "The Dragon Clan is surely aware of Dialga's state... That means The Dragon Clan sent you here to help me." the young trainer finished, snapping his finger.

"Guess the jig's up." Another voice came from outside the cave.

Ash turned to see a red-haired man with a cape, accompanied by an older man. "The Kanto and Johto Champion and a member of the Hoenn Elite Four. Today must be my lucky day." Ash commented with a chuckle. He then proceeded to shake the hands of the two dragon trainers.

"Sorry for the hostility from my cousin." Lance dragged Clair and hit her lightly on the back. "Come on, apologize. You weren't exactly nice to the person we're supposed to be helping. We _were_ going to just help you, but somebody _insisted_ that we confirm your credibility."

"No, that's quite alright." Ash stopped Clair before she could say anything. "I would've done the same if I were in your shoes." he finished as he entered the tower.

* * *

**Temporal Tower  
****2:00 PM**

"So, how tall is this tower?" Carmine asked, panting. They had gone quite a number of floors up without any signs of reaching the top. "When I signed up for 'save the world week' this isn't really what I had in mind."

"What _did_ you have in mind?" Ash shot back, leaning on a nearby wall, waiting for the Carmine to catch up. The members of the group were quite a ways behind, leaving the front reconnaissance to Ash and Carmine.

Carmine sat down and attempted to catch his breath. "You know, the usual heroic stuff. Ride on our Pokemon and fly away to victory. And how are _you_ not tired, by the way?"

Ash showed his palm to Carmine. "The arm's helping me lift my own weight. It's kind of like walking on lowered gravity for me. It's pretty nifty." the young man explained as he demonstrated the usage.

"Pretty nifty alright. Is there a 'non severed arm' edition of that arm?"

"Don't know, during my time with the old man I didn't really ask around about his inventions." Ash looked at his arm again, recalling the mechanisms. "I can probably make my own, though I'm not sure about.. Err.. Not severing your arm. I only know the blueprints for mine."

Carmine cringed at the thought of losing his arm. "No thanks, I'll pass. I still like my arms, thank you very much."

"Heh, thought as much." Ash replied while making his way to look for the next set of stairs. He arrived at a large room, finding large stone tables equally placed in parts of the room. Surrounding the tables were chairs of similar material. "Hey Carmine, check this out. This must be a cafeteria or something." the young trainer sat down and his Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and sat on the table in front of Ash. "Call the others, this is a good resting place."

* * *

Carmine was only gone for a brief while before coming back with the other members of the group, calling them for a short rest. They had climbed at least twenty floors without stopping, effectively draining their energy. Somewhere along the midway the layout of the tower changed. During his time in the future, the other Ash Ketchum would refer it as the Temporal 'Spire'. _A fitting name_, Ash thought.

"Hey Ash, what are you planning to do once we get up to the top?" Kozenikata asked the younger man, lighting up his cigar.

Ash shifted in his seat and shrugged. "To be honest, I don't really know. The tower that I've been to in the future had collapsed, so I've never really been to this part of the tower." the young man explained, receiving confused and puzzled looks from the others.

"You've been to the future, kid?" Drake inquired skeptically, speaking up for the first time since their meeting. "I find that unbelievable, but this should be interesting."

"I find it hard to believe myself, but yeah. Ain't a pretty place, if you ask me." Ash answered. He noticed Cynthia coming back from her round of patrolling. "Welcome back Cynthia. What did you find?"

"Nothing in particular," the Sinnoh Champion answered as she took a seat. "I did find more ancient writings. I thought it wouldn't be smart for me to stay out there for too long, so I came back here. One thing in particular stood out, though."

"What is it?" Ash shot back, interest piqued.

"The fact that this place is a research facility." Cynthia answered simply.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Lance asked while peeking out of the room trying to confirm the fact.

"Some of the signs read that while I was going around." the blonde answered, pointing to the place where she found it.

Letting the others continue their discussion, Ash felt himself being drawn to a certain spot. He allowed his legs carry him for a short while, before stopping at a particular room. Iron shackles were scattered across the room, rubble covering some of them. Suddenly, a dizzy spell started to creep its in Ash's head. A familiar sensation, one felt multiple times by Ash during the last while during the whole Time Gears ordeal.

"_Should I call the others?_" A cloaked figure asked as he teleported in the room.

"No need, Mewtwo... Rather, go to the rest of the group and tell them to go ahead without me. I have a feeling that this Dimensional Scream is different.. Let me see to this one uninterrupted."

"_Very well, then._" Mewtwo replied simply as he vanished from the room.

Feeling the pain getting worse, Ash sat down and leaned against the wall, letting the Scream tear his mind into unconsciousness.

* * *

_"Sir, we can't hold on much longer! The Tower is going to collapse, most of the King's men here have already fled!" a soldier yelled, seemingly at his superior._

_The other man sat calmly, unfazed. "Do you wish to leave too, then? Leaving_ _that _thing _unguarded? That which caued Dialga to go out of control and started the Time Paralysis in the first place?_"

_The underling gulped and looked at another direction. "N-No, sir.. But if we don't leave now, we'll die!"_

_"If we leave, that _thing_ will escape and unleash havoc upon humanity and Pokemon alike!" the superior shouted firmly. "I have prepared myself to give my life for the cause since the beginning, soldier, have you not done the same?"_

_"O-Of course I have, sir!" The soldier replied, giving a salute._

_"That _thing_... No, Pokemon? It doesn't matter. I will seal it here to prevent it from escaping. This monster... I will stop its ambition of making a world shrouded in darkness." The man stood up and headed to the room where he would seal the entity._

* * *

Released from the Scream, Ash jolted up and vividly recollected what he saw in the vision. The being that was about to be sealed by the man, the source of a previous time paralysis.

"Oh, what the hell..."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long break, again.**

**Since this story is nearing its end, I'm thinking of starting another Pokemon story with some pairings already in mind. And so I wanted to know what you guys would think, so I've put up a poll in my profile. It would be highly appreciated if you guys could drop by and leave a vote (^.^)**

**Edit 9/17/2012: Thanks for the people that have voted so far! I'll keep the poll open until 9/20/2012.**


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